With more than 38 million Americans food insecure, President Biden announced on Wednesday that the White House will hold a conference on hunger and nutrition in September. It will be the first presidential hunger conference since 1969 and would launch a national plan on ending hunger in the United States, said the White House.
“No one should have to wonder where their next meal will come from,” said Susan Rice, White House domestic policy adviser. “Hunger, diet-related disease and disparities surrounding them impact millions of Americans and the Covid-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the urgency of addressing these issues.”
The conference would galvanize action against hunger and launch a national plan outlining how to end hunger, increase healthy eating, and encourage physical activity among Americans by 2030, said the White House.
Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, who pushed for a year for the conference, said the gathering had the potential to be transformational.
The 1969 conference provided the impetus to launch WIC and expand the food stamps and school lunch programs, and “sowed the seeds” for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, said a 2020 review. “What are sometimes overlooked are the tremendous efforts that were needed to translate the WHC recommendations into action.”
The White House web page on the hunger conference is available here.