FRAC Annual Dinner
                                              Release No. 0195.97

Remarks
                              of 
                     Secretary Dan Glickman
                   at the FRAC Annual Dinner
               Washington, D.C. -- June 17, 1997

     Thank you, Rob [Fersch]. It's good to be here tonight. It feels like a
family reunion. 

     I've known Rob for years from our days working together on the House
Agriculture Committee.  

     You know, this gathering sort of reminds me of that joke about the 2
dairy cows: 2 dairy cows are grazing along the side of the road. 

     A milk truck drives by, and on the side of it is a sign:  Pasteurized!
Homogenized! Vitamin-enriched! Good for you!' The one dairy cow turns to the
other dairy cow and says,  kind of makes you feel inadequate, doesn't it?'

     That's sort of how I feel up here right now. I see a lot of friends
from my House days -- Congresswoman Clayton, Congressman Hall, Congressman
Walsh, Congresswoman Roukema. We're a bipartisan crew. When it comes to
fighting hunger, I'd like to think that we're a non-partisan crew.

     Senator Dole, too, is a friend and a fellow Kansan. I'm not sure how
much he gave, but I hear if FRAC ever needs a loan ... he's your man.

     We're also missing a dear friend tonight, Congressman Bill Emerson.
His wife Joanne is here. 

     Joanne, I'd like you to know that thanks to the Bill Emerson Good
Samaritan Act of 1996, we have more restaurants, more cafeterias, more
grocery stores than ever before giving their excess food to families who
need that food a whole lot more than a dumpster does. 

     Your husband's spirit is alive and well in all that we do.

     Finally, I'd like to thank the wonderful organization that we're all
here tonight to honor. Since its inception, FRAC has helped shape the anti-hunger debate. They started by quantifying America's hungry. Then they put
human faces on those numbers. 

     Too often, as all of you know, they are the faces of our children. 

     One in 3 of our kids live in families that do constant battle with
hunger -- whether it's missed meals the last few days before a paycheck, or
skipped medical appointments in favor of putting food on the table. 
These kids are at constant risk of malnutrition and the lifetime of chronic
illness that can accompany it. 

     I doubt there are too many kids out there who know what FRAC stands
for or what they do. But I do know that there are millions of children who
would notice if FRAC didn't do what they do.

     At no time is that more apparent than right now. For most of our kids,
summertime is fun time. No school. Nice weather. Play all day. No worries. 

     But for too many of our kids, the approach of summer brings with it a
sense of dread. No school means something entirely different to them. No
school means no school lunch and no school breakfast. 

     While federal programs feed more than 12.5 million low-income kids
every school day, they feed only about 2.2 million in the summer -- one in
six.
     
     Thanks to FRAC, more and more community-based organizations like the
D.C. Central Kitchen, are starting or expanding their involvement with the
Summer Food Service Program -- which makes federal dollars available so our
children have a happy instead of hungry summer. 

     In fact, this summer the D.C. Central Kitchen has gone from serving
summer school meals at 5 sites to 20. 
Let's give them a hand for that. That's thousands more kids who will get a
nutritious meal. Thousands more of our children who will have the chance to
be just that this summer -- children.

     Now, FRAC is taking our efforts to the next level with Building
Blocks. This program wraps private efforts around the federal food safety
net, so we can pool all our resources -- government, private non-profit and
the rest -- to care for the whole child. 

     I explain it this way: If you feed them, they will come. Where a child
comes for a meal, there we can also give them mentoring, tutoring, you name
it.  If you give a child all these things. If you give them help with
school. If you give them good role models. If you give them a safe place to
grow and play -- away from trouble ...
Then you go a long ways toward giving them a brighter future. 

     This is the cutting edge of child care. It focuses our efforts toward
the light at the end of the tunnel -- a young crop of children who grow up
healthy, educated, and empowered.... a generation of kids who have what it
takes to break the cycle of poverty and of hunger.

     As President Clinton begins a national dialogue on how we can unite as
one America in the 21st century, our effort could make a huge difference. If
you grow up hungry, you often feel that society could care less about you.

     Why should you care about it? Now rewind that childhood, and replay it
in a community where there is no such thing as other people's children,
where every child is nurtured and given the opportunity to thrive. 
What's the difference in that child's outlook? It's all the difference in
the world.

     We must help make that difference for our children around the world.
That's a commitment I made on behalf of the United States at the World Food
Summit. We agreed to help cut in half the number of the world's hungry by
2015 ... cutting in half our numbers here at home, too. But why stop there? 

     If we are to lead the world toward a less hungry future, then we must
lead the world by eliminating hunger here at home. Just imagine if we could
show that, yes, it can be done. 

     I intend to lead that fight. Over the next 6 months, you will see a
concerted effort on the part of USDA to elevate the debate ... to shift the
human face of hunger to the forefront of America's conscience ... 
... and ultimately, to get more Americans to do more than just talk about
the problem.

     It's time. The existence of hunger in this -- the most prosperous and
agriculturally abundant nation in the world is our great country's greatest
shame. Let's put it to rest.

     I know that noone here is under any illusions about the size of this
task ...especially in the context of welfare reform and a balanced budget.
We must work more together. And, we must draw a line in the sand: There is
no substitute for strong federal programs. 

     Yes, there is more we can do in the area of food recovery. Yes, we
desperately need additional support for FRAC, the D.C. Central Kitchen,
Second Harvest and the rest. 

     But there is no substitute for a strong, federal commitment. Every
year we fight this battle -- whether it's school lunches or WIC. Every year,
we win, and for the best of reasons: This is not a nation that wants its
children to go hungry.

     Our challenge is to translate that sentiment into unified, intensified
action. 

     At my house, I have a plaque on the wall that reads,  when all is said
and done, more's said than done.' All of you are getting things done. By
shaping the lives of our children, you are shaping America's future. 

     On behalf of a grateful President, and a grateful nation -- thank you.

                                #

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