House Recognizes Importance of Food Distribution in Schools

On July 19, the House approved, 367-4, a resolution (S. Con. Res. 114) calling on the administration to work with the United Nations to expand programs distributing food in schools to hungry and malnourished children. The Senate approved the resolution on June 3 (see The Source, 6/4/04).

Sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• There are more than 300 million chronically hungry and malnourished children in the world;
• The distribution of food in schools is one of the simplest and most effective strategies in fighting hunger and malnourishment among children;
• When school meals are offered to hungry and malnourished children, attendance rates increase significantly, particularly for girls;
• Improvement in the education of girls is one of the most important factors in reducing child malnutrition in developing countries;
• Girls who attend school tend to marry later in life and have fewer children, thereby helping them escape a life of poverty; and
• A recent Department of Agriculture evaluation found that the Global Food for Education Initiative pilot program created measurable improvements in school attendance for girls, increased local employment and economic activity, produced greater involvement in local infrastructure and community improvement projects, and increased participation by parents in the schools and the education of their children.

Pointing out that 300 million children around the world suffer from chronic hunger and malnourishment, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) said that the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program “consists of a simple measure of supplying schools in areas suffering from food shortages with meals for their students. It has been shown that this measure, in addition to providing much-needed nourishment for hungry children, also results in a significant rise in attendance rates. This translates into higher literacy rates, job opportunities, and a healthier local economy as these children enter the workforce. These improvements, in turn, address several root causes of terrorism which is strongly linked to poverty and poor education.”

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) stated, “The McGovern-Dole program is now permanent, but it alone cannot end world hunger; nor can it dramatically alter the performance of educational systems in developing countries. The program can, however, play a crucial role in helping our Nation meet its moral obligation to alleviate human suffering in places like sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and South Asia while at the same time helping to support tens of thousands of American farm families. The McGovern-Dole program can also put spoons and textbooks into the hands of poor children in the most destitute corners of the globe so that these children will be less likely to grow up, take up arms, and fight over scarce resources.”