ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190019
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
IT'S MIDYEAR, and the holiday season and its well-meant flurry of activity to feed needy Americans is long past. But it will take more than a couple of turkey dinners a year, or grocery bags full of boxed cereal and surplus cheese, to change the lives of millions for whom hunger and poor nutrition are everyday burdens throughout the year.
For the past four years, we have crisscrossed the country to help cities develop an innovative way to fight hunger and improve nutrition among the needy. The plan is straightforward: Large-scale donations of "edible-but-not-sellable" fresh fruits and vegetables are distributed to children and adults through a network of approved charities.
Every day, wholesale amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables are dumped into landfills because these goods fail to attract a commercial buyer. We bring business and nonprofit groups into a collaborative arrangement to speed these perishable foods to hungry people. Such programs have grown from two to more than 30, including the Second Harvest of Southwest Virginia in Roanoke, with another 20 cities under development. In 1995 alone, programs channeled 100 million pounds of produce to charitable recipients.
This is heartening. But much more must be accomplished. One out of seven Americans now experiences hunger on a regular basis. Tens of millions more are malnourished, subsisting on diets heavy in salt, sugar and fat, or deprived of essential nutrients. And these numbers have grown in recent years.
Low-income people deserve more than just calories. Hundreds of scientific studies document that eating fresh fruits and vegetables fights cancer, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, the risk of strokes, infectious illnesses and more. Produce consumption contributes to prenatal health and early-childhood development. The control of diabetes, a national epidemic affecting 16 million, requires a balanced diet, and fruits and vegetables are essential.
The looming cuts in public welfare mean that local hunger relief must expand to meet new needs. Encouragingly, there's already a solid base to build upon. Food assistance to low-income people already draws on tens of thousands of volunteer, nonprofit food distribution programs at churches, community centers and other relief organizations. Much of the food that makes such aid possible flows through 200 nonprofit food banks and 150 prepared-meal rescue programs scattered throughout the country.
Many can play a role in saving surplus produce from being dumped. Local communities must insist that their food-distribution programs add fruits and vegetables to their service, even though these items are admittedly more difficult to handle than packaged goods. Local foundations and philanthropists must provide operating funds to enable the distribution of surplus produce. This costs just 3 to 6 cents per pound to handle, on top of existing budgets for relief - it's small change that can effect big change.
Federal and local government leaders must provide symbolic leadership, if not hard cash from their shrunken coffers. Their praise of nutritious hunger relief and visits to distribution centers would reassure charitable workers that their contributions are valuable.
One piece of the puzzle requires less work. In every place we have visited, produce wholesalers and large retail firms stand ready to donate surplus fresh foods on a daily basis, if approached in the right way. The partnerships between business and charities in small cities like Raleigh, N.C., or Annapolis, Md., regularly distribute 1.5 million pounds per year. Larger places, like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston or Miami, handle more than 5 million pounds.
Conflicting plans by the president and the Republican Congress for welfare reform converge on at least one painful fact. Whichever scenario wins, levels of need for food assistance will remain as acute as they are today. And tax dollars will likely shrink for providing meals to the working poor, children, the elderly and others below the poverty line. The gap will widen between gross income and what people need to spend for housing and food.
Healthy fresh fruits and vegetables are readily available. Produce can fight chronic diseases and promote human development among people who are now locked into a perpetual cycle of dependency. The tragedy of chronic hunger in America shows no signs of disappearing. But an expanded collaboration between business and non-profits can end the wasteful dumping of healthful food and take some of the sting out of impending cuts in welfare.
Peter Clarke and Susan H. Evans teach at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles, where they direct a national program to distribute produce to the needy.
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