With Congress due to update U.S. child nutrition programs and farm subsidies in the near term, the Bipartisan Policy Center announced on Tuesday a task force that could influence the legislation. The Food and Nutrition Security Task Force is expected to issue a series of policy recommendations during its one-year life.
Four co-chairs were named – former agriculture secretaries Ann Veneman and Dan Glickman, humanitarian chef José Andrés and Leslie Sarasin, chief executive of the trade group Food Marketing Institute. Among the task force members are leaders of antihunger groups, farm groups, nutrition experts and health care leaders.
An estimated 42 million Americans are at risk of not getting enough to eat at the same time an obesity epidemic creates the risk of diet-related chronic diseases for millions of Americans, said the think tank. Besides suggesting changes in public nutrition programs and farm policy, the task force would develop ideas for public and private sector cooperation on food security.
“Our aim is to design solutions that not only help Americans get enough calories, but the right kind of calories,” said Glickman.