[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 48929-48930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24902]
[[Page 48927]]
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Part III
The President
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Proclamation 7019--National Week of Food Recovery, 1997
Proclamation 7020--National Hispanic Heritage Month, 1990
Proclamation 7021--50th Anniversary of the National Security Act of
1947
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 180 / Wednesday, September 17, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 48929]]
Proclamation 7019 of September 12, 1997
National Week of Food Recovery, 1997
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The American people are blessed with rich natural
resources and an agricultural sector that is the most
efficient and productive in the world. It is a tragic
reality, however, that in this land of plenty, many of
our fellow Americans still go hungry each day. This
statistic becomes even more heartbreaking when we
realize that about 27 percent of the estimated 356
billion pounds of food that America produces each year
goes to waste at the retail, wholesale, and consumer
levels.
Most of this loss occurs in the commercial food chain,
as food travels from farms to wholesale markets,
manufacturers, supermarkets, company cafeterias, and
restaurants, and much of it is recoverable. Whether it
be day-old bread at a bakery or an extra pan of lasagna
not served by a restaurant or cafeteria, a significant
amount of this food is perfectly edible and wholesome.
Throwing away such food is an intolerable loss, because
it both denies hungry Americans a vital source of
nourishment and wastes precious resources.
Municipalities across the country currently spend about
$1 billion a year in tax dollars to dispose of excess
food.
There is a growing national movement to recover this
food and distribute it to Americans in need. This
movement, led by nonprofit groups and energized by new
efforts at the Department of Agriculture, is making a
noticeable difference in the amount of edible excess
food that is finding its way to hungry people rather
than ending up in dumpsters.
Every sector of our society--from individuals to large
institutions--can do more to glean and recover excess
food. Every person can have an impact. Individuals can
donate canned and boxed goods to food drives; they can
give their time and money to food recovery
organizations; they can even encourage the places where
they work--and the businesses they patronize--to get
involved in this movement.
Food recovery efforts will never replace a strong
Federal safety net that includes such critical programs
as the Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; the
National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs;
and nutrition education efforts. However, extra food,
provided through food recovery, can serve as a vital
supplement to the diets of millions of Americans in
need.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim September
14 through September 20, 1997, as National Week of Food
Recovery, to be held in conjunction with the National
Summit on Food Recovery. I call on all Americans to
observe this week by actively participating in and
supporting efforts to recover food for distribution to
hungry Americans.
[[Page 48930]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-second.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 97-24902
Filed 9-16-97; 9:04 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
