Date: 2011-06-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the Chairman. and I thank the Agriculture appropriations subcommittee for their kindness and their deliberateness in this very long evening and as well the ranking member along with the chairman. This is a simple amendment about food and about helping more Americans get healthy food. There is not one of us that does not understand how dry and difficult a desert is. This amendment is simply about food deserts in rural and urban areas. This amendment provides a $5 million increase to the Office of the Secretary to allow assistance to provide relief to those who are suffering from the lack of access to food quality. This is a healthy child. we would hope. That healthy child needs to have good food. These funds will increase the availability of affordable healthy food in underserved urban and rural communities. particularly through the development or equipping of grocery stores and other healthy food retailers. Fastfood restaurants and convenience stores line the blocks of lowincome neighborhoods. offering few if any healthy options. In rural areas. there may be no access at all. This particularly impacts African American and Hispanic communities and. as I indicated. rural communities. This climate in the difficult times that we have requires us to be able to allow families to have access to good food. We also have the issues of obesity and as well nutrition. Food deserts impact many districts. and I will say to you that Texas in particular has fewer grocery stores per capita than any other State. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 32 percent of all children in Texas face a nutrition issue. Targeting assistance to food desert areas will provide healthy food to affected areas. open new markets for farmers. create jobs. and bolster development in distressed communities. Farmers markets are a good idea. but farmers markets sometimes are difficult to find in our communities. Again. let me emphasize. this is about rural and urban areas. This initiative will provide for the availability of healthy food alternatives to some 23 million people living in food deserts. Let me just suggest to you that these families that we care for. families. young families of the military. many of you have heard stories where the military families are on food stamps. Many of them live in areas beyond their bases. and some of their families are back home in rural and urban areas. This amendment. which will provide an $8 million gift back to the government. will give a mere $5 million to provide the opportunity for those food desert loopholes. if you willrural places in our Nation where there are big gaps with access to food. and as well urban areasto have access to the opportunity for good and healthy food. With that. I yield back the balance of my time and ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment that addresses the question of helping those who need healthy food. I thank the Chairman for this opportunity to explain my amendment to H.R. 2112. which will reach back into the bill to increase the funding for the Office of the Secretary by $5 million dollars. This increase. provided for by reducing the funding for operations and maintenance of Buildings and Facilities in order to fund President Obamas Healthy Food Funding Initiative. HFFI. Supporting this amendment will not only fund an important pilot program. but save the government $8 million. 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 Center 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 low income 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 affect food deserts have on the health of low income 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.