A Place at the Table Page #4

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Did you find that

you had to add more sugar

because the bananas were starchy?

I believe there was a total

of about two pounds of sugar.

What's served in the schools

is very much a function

of the kind of investment

we've been willing to make.

If you figure that

the federal government

is reimbursing schools

$2.68 for a meal that's served free,

and you take out the labor cost

and the administrative cost

and cost for gas and electricity

and custodial services

and what have you,

it really doesn't leave

a lot for food.

Most schools report that

they have between

90 and a dollar

to actually spend on food.

We're spending less

than a dollar, okay? On lunch.

Now I don't know about you,

but I go to Starbucks and Peet's

and places like that,

and a Venti latte

in San Francisco is $5.00.

One gourmet coffee...

One... is more...

We spend more on

than we are spending to feed

kids for an entire week in our schools.

The dollars that

are being used for reimbursement

haven't changed since 1973.

We need to get

better nutritious foods in school.

And the only way to do that

is by increasing

the amount of the reimbursement.

The Committee

on Education and Labor will come to order.

Good morning to everyone.

This morning, we'll discuss a new

bipartisan child nutrition legislation

we introduced earlier

this month to address

critical health and economic

needs in this country.

As thinking adults,

as fellow parents,

this is an egregious abdication

of our responsibility towards kids.

Let's fund school programs

at a spending level

that significantly raises

the quality and variety

of what schools can afford.

A country as strong,

as rich, as powerful as ours,

and yet we have youngsters

who are hungry?

It's one of the reasons

why Harry Truman in 1946

established the school lunch program,

because he recognized that a country

was only as strong as its youth.

Only 25% of youngsters

in America today,

ages 19 to 24,

are fit for military service.

And one of

the principle reasons for that

is that too many

of our youngsters are overweight.

The Institute of Medicine did a study

of the nutritional value

of the meals

that we are currently serving

to our children and found

that there was too much fat,

too much sugar,

too much sodium, not enough fruits,

not enough vegetables.

There is obviously room

for improvement.

And that's why I'm here today

to encourage this committee

and this Congress

to take action now, not to delay.

There are concerns

on both sides of the aisle

by many members of Congress,

and I think by the American people,

that we don't have enough money

to do everything we want to do.

When it comes

to domestic issues,

the health and education

of our nation's children,

I think is one of

our highest priorities.

If we don't change the direction

we're heading,

this generation will be the first

to live sicker and die younger

than their parents' generation.

Check it out.

I want to see

how tall you are, okay?

Okay.

Thank you. High five.

High five.

Okay, since March of last year,

did you ever eat less than

you felt that you should

because there wasn't

enough money to buy food?

Yes.

Since March of last year

did you ever cut the size

of your meals

or skip meals because there

wasn't enough money for food?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

How often did this happen?

- It happens quite a lot.

- Okay.

Okay, okay, okay.

I was really frustrated because I felt

like anyone can see how touching

those interviews are

in the emergency room,

A mother when she starts to cry

'cause she's working,

trying hard to take care of her kids,

she's scared for the health

of her child.

We see that on a daily basis

in the emergency room.

But then I'd go to Congress,

and I would announce the numbers

and pronounce how important

food stamps are.

And I just felt like the legislators there

were not really listening,

that they could not relate.

I felt like

it's time for me to be quiet

and give the power

of framing the issue

of food insecurity and hunger

to the people who are

experiencing hunger themselves.

Everybody say, "Washington!"

Washington!

Here's the plan.

At 11:
30,

the reception at the Senate.

Senator Casey will speak,

I will speak,

Tiana will speak,

Barbie will speak.

And every time that you have

an opportunity,

give your ideas for change,

for what you need

for the success and healthy life

of your kids, okay?

These guys are the ones

who make it happen.

I was the first mother

in Witnesses to Hunger,

and I didn't think anyone

would take us seriously.

But I am here to let everyone know

that just because we live

where we live,

and come from

where we come from,

doesn't mean that we're not smart.

It doesn't mean we don't

have potential.

It doesn't mean that we not...

We do not want education,

doesn't mean that we want

to depend on welfare

for the rest of our lives.

I want the same hopes

and dreams as everyone

in this room for their children.

We just need the opportunity

to make it come true.

Came from,

and where we're at now

and where we're going to be.

As you walk through the Rotunda

and you look at our pictures,

look into our eyes, see our pain.

Our pictures that you see

in the exhibit

demonstrate

what we go through every day.

This is un...

It's unnecessary.

One of the most important things

about Witnesses to Hunger

is the whole concept of change.

This is not simply

just empowerment for the women.

This is about sincere

and profound legislative change.

I know some

of this stuff is not easy to talk about.

But yet you're down here,

and I am very, very grateful.

And I feel food should be a right.

We have a lot of lobbyists

who come down here

who get well-paid and talk

about other things, so...

You know, you're kind of

a dream come true for me,

because I want people

to descend on Capitol Hill,

you know, and talk about the need

to make sure that we focus on issues

dealing with poverty and hunger

and nutritious food.

Anyway, thank you for coming

all the way up

to the Rules Committee.

Thank you so much.

The Obama Administration

takes this opportunity very seriously.

The administration proposed

an historic investment

of $10 billion in additional

funding over ten years.

As we reauthorize the programs,

have you been able to work

through the budget process

to determine whether

we can pay for them?

Senator, I think it's important

to focus on what the cost of inaction

and inactivity might be.

And as you well know,

Senator, from your experience,

you fund your priorities.

You fund your priorities.

The President

proposed an additional $1 billion a year

to strengthen child nutrition programs.

And he was very clear.

Let's take that money away

from some of

the least justifiable payments

to affluent landholders.

Well, that part of his proposal

died within 24 hours.

Both the Ag committees said,

"No way, you're not touching that."

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