Date: 2011-06-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the distinguished chairman from Georgia. who I am hoping will be inclined to recognize the importance of this amendment and work with those of us who are interested in healthy food. Mr. Chairman. my amendment would fund and seek to have the Secretary of Agriculture focus on the healthy food funding initiative. This initiative would increase the availability of affordable healthy foods in underserved urban and rural areas and. as well. particularly through the development or equipping of grocery stores and other healthy food retailers. We call these "food deserts." And the reason why I am standing next to this tragic picture of the disasters that have hit the American public is to emphasize what Americans go through. In this instance. we see a disaster of unbelievable proportion. from Missouri to Alabama to the flooding that occurred up and down the Mississippi. I can assure you that these individuals are suffering from the lack of access to healthy food. Weve got to get them back on their feet. This idea of food deserts impacts rural and urban areas. but it also impacts the millions of Americans. thousands upon thousands of Americans who have recently been impacted by disaster. Everything is gone. And although they are now probably experiencing the distribution of food from food centers sponsored by FEMA and volunteers. they will come back to a food desert. Particularly in the African American and Hispanic communities. for example. food comes from fast foods and convenience stores. And as I indicated before. those fast foods come from. if you will. the places where the expiration dates are sometimes way over the time of expiration. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 80 percent of black women and 67 percent of black men are overweight. African American children from lowincome families are at a much higher risk for obesity. Why? Because there is no access or limited access to good food. The CDC also estimates that African American and Mexican American adolescents ages 12 to 19 are more likely to be overweight at 21 percent and 23 percent. respectively. This amount of money will allow us to focus on the importance of correcting food deserts. The U.S. Department of Agriculture identified 92 food desert census tracks in Harris County alone. and that is in the 18th Congressional District. These areas are subdivisions of a county with between 1.000 to 8.000 lowincome residents. with 33 percent of the people living more than a mile from a grocery store. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 32 percent of all children in Texas are overweight or obese. These statistics underscore the staggering effect food deserts have. I am asking that we look at the idea of ensuring healthy food. Targeting Federal financial assistance to food desert areas through the Healthy Food Finance Initiative will provide more healthy food to affected areas. We can create jobs. we can help farmers. and we can bolster the development in distressed areas. It is an easy fix. and the fix is to find a way to cooperate. collaboratenot do a handout. not dole outto make sure that we provide the incentives to come into our areas to ensure that we have a healthy child. This is a healthy child. we hope. getting access to health care. But I can assure you that their health is based upon not only health care but the food that this little one will eat. I can tell you. Mr. Chairman. that I represent communities that have the inability to access good food. This initiative will increase the availability of healthy food alternatives to the 23.5 million people living in food deserts nationwide. We must be reducing the deficit. I agree. but cutting programs that provide healthy foodand create jobs. because it would certainly create jobs by adding access to healthy food and sites for healthy food. meaning grocery stores. farmers markets. All of those will be part of this initiative. And it would assist the many. many census tracks in Houston. alone. that are now suffering from the lack of access to good food. Just a picture of green vegetables inspires us to support this amendment. I would ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank the Chairman for this opportunity to explain my amendment to H.R. 2122. which allocates an additional $25 million to the budget of the Office of the Secretary. in order to fund President Obamas Healthy Food Funding Initiative (HFFI). Funding HFFI will increase the availability of affordable. healthy foods in underserved urban and rural communities. particularly through the development or equipping of grocery stores and other healthy food retailers. These "food deserts". communities in which residents do not have access to affordable and healthy food options. disproportionally affect African American and Hispanic communities. Fast food restaurants and convenience stores line the blocks of low income neighborhoods. offering few. if any. healthy options. Many of my colleagues across the aisle have made arguments about the economic climate. and the need for budgetary cuts. and I agree that we must work to reduce the deficit. We cannot. however. continue to make irresponsible cuts to programs for the underserved. lower income families. and minorities. Since the mid1970s. the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply for both adults and children. and obesity is a grave health concern for all Americans. However. food deserts have taken a toll on low income and minority communities and exacerbated growing obesity rates and health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 80 percent of black women and 67 percent of black men are overweight or obese. African American children from low income families have a much higher risk for obesity than those in higher income families. The CDC also estimates African American and Mexican American adolescents ages 1219 are more likely to be overweight. at 21 percent and 23 percent respectively. than nonHispanic white adolescents who are 14 percent overweight. In children 611 years old. 22 percent of Mexican American children are overweight. compared to 20 percent of African American children and 14 percent of nonHispanic white children. Food deserts have greatly impacted my constituents in the 18th Congressional District. and citizens throughout the State of Texas. Texas has fewer grocery stores per capita than any other State. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identified 92 food desert census tracts in Harris County alone. These areas are subdivisions of the county with between 1.000 to 8.000 lowincome residents. with 33 percent of people living more than a mile from a grocery store. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 32 percent of all children in Texas are overweight or obese. These statistics underscore the staggering effect food deserts have on the health of lowincome and minority communities. In Houston and other cities across the country. local programs have proved that well targeted funding and assistance can create viable business outcomes and increase access to healthy food. Targeting federal financial assistance to food desert areas through the Healthy Food Funding Initiative will provide more healthy food to affected neighborhoods. open new markets for farmers. create jobs. and bolster development in distressed communities. The Healthy Food Funding Initiative is not a handout or a crutch. Funding through this program is intended to provide financial and technical assistance in support of market planning. promotion efforts. infrastructure and operational improvements. and increase availability of locally and regionally produced foods. This initiative will increase the availability of healthy food alternatives to the 23.5 million people living in food deserts nationwide. Yes. we must work toward reducing the deficit. but cutting programs that provide healthy food to those who simply do not have access to nutritional options. is not the way. With that. I yield back the balance of my time.