Vilsack urges Americans to ‘Feed a Neighbor’ this holiday season

As more American families question their ability to put food on their tables, there are actions that all of us can take to combat food insecurity.

“I believe hunger is one of the great challenges that confronts us today in a tough and difficult economy, and I think we have an opportunity and a responsibility to make a real difference,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Tuesday by telephone.

Last week the USDA Economic Research Service, which has conducted a national food security survey since 1995, released its latest findings. Although 85 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year, insecure households reached their highest level in the history of the survey.

On the state level, Iowa’s three-year food insecurity average also rose from 10.9 percent to 11.6 percent. Although the federal survey data ended in 2008, food banks throughout Iowa report that the need for emergency food has continued to increase during 2009.

“The reality is that these families and these children that are hungry could very well live right next door to each of us and, as a result, we all have a role to play,” Vilsack said.

The USDA has joined with the National Service Agency and the White House to announce “Feed A Neighbor,” an anti-hunger initiative, as a part of Pres. Barack Obama’s national call to service. Nicole Goren, acting chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, has made a volunteer toolkit, developed by the USDA, available on the Serve.gov Web site to all those interested in helping ensure that children, older Americans and families have enough to eat.

“Our purpose is really to raise public awareness of hunger issues and to challenge Americans to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritional foods,” Goren said, noting that the initiative will be “an intensified effort” beginning at Thanksgiving and continuing through Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.

The 2010 Department of Agriculture budget included $85 million for development of programs that reach out to children during summer months when there are no school lunch programs. Vilsack indicated that his department is proposing an extension to the Child Nutrition Acts in order to improve quality and access to school lunch and breakfast programs, and that some members of Congress are considering legislative action that could help fill the food gaps confronting Americans.

“It is a combination of additional resources under our traditional programs and new resources under the ag appropriations bill. But, the money is just part of it,” Vilsack said. “It is important I think for people in communities across the country to understand that this is a problem in their community. It is not just in someone else’s community. It is not in someone else’s neighborhood. It is in their community, their neighborhood.”

While there is a definite humanitarian aspect of providing for Americans who do not always have enough food, Vilsack also warns that there are long-term consequences of allowing young people and members of the American workforce to be without food.

“This is also about education and excellence and performance,” he said. “Youngsters who are hungry clearly will not perform as well in school. There is also concern among the military that if youngsters don’t receive adequate nutrition that they may not be physically able to participate in military activities and that may limit the number of youngsters available for voluntary service in the military.

“So, this is an issue that has many ramifications, which is why it is important for the country to understand and appreciate that we call all do something about this. This isn’t just a government response.”