DeLAURO CO-HOSTS ‘WITNESSES TO HUNGER’ NEW HAVEN OPENING
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - Congresswoman DeLauro joined End Hunger Connecticut!, the New Haven Food Policy Council, the Community Alliance for Research and E ngagement at Yale and the Center for Hunger-Free Communities at Drexel University to host the New Haven opening of 'Witnesses to Hunger' today at New Haven City Hall. The following remarks are as prepared for delivery:
“I first saw the Witness to Hunger exhibit in the Washington in April, and I was moved by it. I am so glad we could bring it to New Haven. Too often we think of hunger and poverty as an abstraction. But hunger is a painful and agonizing fact of life for nearly fifty million Americans all over the country, including over sixteen million children.
“We are talking about Americans experiencing real physical pain. Kids who cannot concentrate in school because all they can think about is food. Seniors forced to decide whether they will go hungry or be cold.”
“This is a problem all across this land, including right here in our community. Across our district, nearly one in seven households are not sure if they can afford enough food to feed their families. Here in New Haven, nearly one in three residents [31%] are food insecure. What does that mean? They do not know where their next meal is coming from - - they are hungry. In the poorest neighborhoods in our city, as many as 40% are struggling every day to put food on the table. 10,000 kids, right here in New Haven, qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. You can see some of these families’ stories in this exhibit.”
“The continued existence of hunger in America is a disgrace and, quite frankly, an indictment of Congress as an institution. In the words of Harry Truman, “Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children, and proper nourishment comes first in attaining this welfare.”
“Or as President John Kennedy put it: “We have the ability, we have the means, and we have the capacity to eliminate hunger from the face of the earth. We need only the will.”
“Fifty years ago, we had that will. Our nation committed to a War on Poverty, to end hunger and deprivation in our country. And those efforts, slowly but surely, made a profound difference for families on the edge. If you include the social safety net, the poverty rate fell from 26% in 1967 to 16% in 2012. And one of the most critical components of that safety net is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Food Stamps, which turned fifty years old this week.”
“SNAP is our country’s most important effort to deal with hunger here at home, and to ensure that families can put food on the table for their kids. They help over 47 million Americans, nearly half of them children, many others are seniors, veterans or disabled Americans and a vast majority living below the poverty line, meet their basic food needs. SNAP has been proven to improve low-income children’s health and development, reduce food insecurity, and have a continuing positive influence into adulthood.”
“The program has one of the lowest error rates of any government program. And they are even good for the economy, and have a powerful positive impact on growth, because they get resources into the hands of families who will spend them right away. USDA research shows that every $5 of federal nutrition benefits generates nearly twice that in economic activity.”
“And yet, despite all of this, the House Republican Majority slashed SNAP in the Farm Bill this year. They cut the benefit by $90 a month for 850,000 households – equaling nearly 1.7 million people. And they cut this aid for poor families while preserving loopholes and maximizing handouts for wealthy farmers and agribusinesses.”
“If they have their way, there will be more cuts coming next year and beyond. I believe this is immoral. We have lost our way.”
“In the past, there has been a strong tradition of bipartisanship on fighting hunger and supporting nutrition. In fact, President Richard Nixon called for a significant expansion of the SNAP program. He declared that, “the moment is at hand to put an end to hunger in America,” and that we should, quote, “provide poor families enough food stamps to purchase a nutritionally complete diet.”
“And Senator Bob Dole, a champion against hunger throughout his time in Congress, called these recent cuts to SNAP, quote, “an about-face on our progress fighting hunger.”
“They are right. And the only reason I can imagine that my colleagues across the aisle would support cuts like this is because they have lost track of how hunger is impacting families all across our country.”
“That is why this Witnesses to Hunger exhibit is so important. It shows us that hunger is not something happening to people far away. It is right here in New Haven, impacting families in our community – our friends and neighbors, the children in our children’s classrooms. This exhibit brings to life, in a visceral and human fashion, the real struggle families are dealing with against hunger.”
“I hope everyone here, and families throughout New Haven, will explore this exhibit, listen to the stories, and reflect on what it means that this hunger persists in our community. And I hope we can come together and re-commit to the fight – to end hunger in America for good. The astronaut Buzz Aldrin once said, “If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.”
“We have the ability, we have the means, we have the capacity to eliminate hunger in America. We only need the will to do what is right. Thank you all, and please do take time to explore the exhibit tonight.”
Over 46 million Americans, almost half of them children, use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) in a given year. ‘Witnesses to Hunger’ is part of a national research and advocacy project featuring original photography and first-hand accounts from parents who have experienced hunger and poverty. Baltimore, Boston, Camden and Philadelphia have previously been featured.
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