Through the cooperation of the Denver Welfare, we actually have a food distribution system and all other health agencies participating in the commodity supplemental food program have established a distribution system. Therefore, I urge that money be budgeted to enable USDA to continue the commodity supplemental food program at least at the existing level. Thank you for any consideration that you can give this request. (Mrs.) HELEN LOVELL, Director, Nutrition Section. VITERBO COLLEGE, LaCrosse, Wis., April 8, 1975. Re S. 850. Senator GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I am writing to enlist your support of S. 850 as proposed by Senator McGovern et al. On behalf of myself and members of the Nutrition Committee of the Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care-Western Region, I would like to encourage support of S. 850, as a decrease or discontinuance of the supplementary food programs would not be in the best interest of the people in western Wisconsin. Our committee consists of physicians, nurses and nutritionists from western Wisconsin. Our goal is the education of consumers and professionals as to the importance of good nutrition in pregnancy for optimal physical and mental development of the infant. Research indicates a direct correlation between the nutritional status of the mother and the health of the infant. Thus, if S. 850 is defeated, many of our people will not have the money to obtain adequate food, even if they are aware of the importance of good nutrition. The copy enclosed, taken from the S/RW, provides documentation of the seriousness of the problem. We hope that our concern in this matter is of interest to you. Sincerely, Enclosure. ROSE E. KREUTZ, R.N., M.S.ED, [From SR/W Science, Mar. 23, 1974] STARVE THE CHILD, FAMISH THE FUTURE In the late Sixties two pioneer investigators into the effects of malnutrition on brain development-Myron Winick and Pedro Rosso of The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center came to some important conclusions, based on studies of the brains of Chilean children: A child who is poorly fed during early infancy may never attain his full brain growth, even though he is well fed thereafter. Similarly, a fetus, malnourished in the womb, may never make up for the brain cells and structures that never came properly into being. Malnutrition both before and after birth virtually dooms a child to stunted brain development and therefore to considerably diminished mental capacity for the rest of his life. At around the same time as Winick and Rosso were carrying out these and related studies, Stephen Zamenhof of UCLA, another pioneer in this area of research, was conducting rat experiments that confirmed these conclusions. But Zamenhof and his colleagues carried the revelations a step further. When an underfed female rat was mated with a well-fed male, the resulting newborns showed distinct signs of brain malnutrition-as expected-even though they were put on an adequate diet starting at birth. The surprise came when the offspring, the second generation of females, which had been well nourished throughout their lives and during their own pregnancies, nevertheless gave birth to newborns with brain growth likewise retarded. The mothers were apparently unable to develop a placenta adequate to the proper nutrition of the fetus. Thus, in the case of these rats at least, the curse of malnutrition was carried into the third generation! Rats, of course, are not people. Nevertheless, over the past several years many researchers in embryology, pediatrics, neurology, nutrition, and allied disciplines have been learning more and more about the disquietingly long-range effects of malnutrition on brain, behavior, and intellectual ability. Familiarity with this growing body of literature gives one a new outlook on hunger. Consider the latest outbreak of famine, this time in several drought-stricken nations of Africa. Once more the newspapers carry numbing statistics of the dead and near-dead. Again we see pictures of rickety children with swollen bellies. of old people with hope-emptied eyes, the skin clinging to their bones. The human mind does not relate well to statistics, but it does relate at least fleetingly to the visible suffering of other human individuals. Those who can do so will undoubtedly respond to the appeals for aid. Food distribution will almost certainly be inadequate and ill organized. But it will begin to bring some nourishment and relief to the victims. The overall situation will gradually improve, the crisis will abate, and the famine will be declared over. For us, it will all have been a transient, remote episode at the midst of our other preoccupations. When new headlines tell us of another famine somewhere in the world, we will notice again. But hunger is always with us, over vast regions of the planet. Our own continent, and our own country, is certainly not exempt. Though "famine," so labeled, seldom occurs, there exists chronic, widespread malnutrition. During a famine it simply occurs on an accelerated, wholesale scale. For survivors of a famine, the ordeal is never really over. Its ravages, as studies have now made clear, may be lifelong and irrevocable. In the first few years of life, the brain grows much faster than the rest of the body. If this growth does not occur on schedule, there is no second chance. This is even truer of prenatal brain development. From fertilized egg to embryo to fetus to infant, growth takes place according to a rigidly timed genetic program, with not much give in it. When brain cells need to divide and new structures need to be formed, the materials-all the materials-and the energy to put them together must be at hand right there and then. DNA can provide the instructions, but the nutrients must come through the placenta. A poorly supplied assembly line cannot be expected to turn out a perfect product. We have all known that physical growth may be stunted by malnutrition, but we have not understood the extent to which brain function and mental capacity can be impaired. (An excellent new book on the subject is The Malnourished Mind by Elie Shneour. The author argues convincingly that the nutrition factor has been too lightly considered by those currently debating the comparative IQs of blacks versus whites.) We have certainly recognized that famine and chronic hunger are tragic circumstances, but we have not recognized the true dimensions of the tragedy. When we think of entire populations undergoing a long siege of near-starvation, of children and fetuses by the hundreds of thousands deprived of their basic nutritional needs, we must now understand that these populations may have to function at a considerably diminished intellectual level compared with their genetic potential. The children who survive will be less able to cope with their ordinary problems, let alone rise to the challenge of situations that require superior intellect or creative ingenuity. The irony is that a nation already afflicted with a plethora of problems, hoping that the new generation will come up with imaginative solutions, may find that the new generation has been sentenced in advance to add to the problems instead—a case of taking away from him that already hath not. It is patently unfair either for individuals or for nations to be cheated of an equal chance at the future. The human brain, like Mark Antony's crocodile, "lives by that which nourisheth it." If the nourishment is missing, an adult brain can recover; but a developing brain loses forever. This new realization should spur us, through our national and international planning bodies, to renewed vigor in our attack on worldwide malnutrition-with special emphasis on the proper feeding of small children and expectant mothers. Easy answers are not readily at hand. Science and its continuing research effort can point us along the way, but the solutions must ultimately be political-and moral. ALBERT ROSENFELD, Science Editor. THE EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN AND ADULTS OF PENNSYLVANIA, Hon. RICHARD S. SCHWEIKER, U.S. Senate, Dirksen Office Building, Middletown, Pa., April 14, 1975. DEAR SENATOR: The Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults of Pennsylvania requests that you intercede with the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee and support the passing of Senate Bill 850, particularly, sections 8, 12 and 13. And that the language of the act should specifically include residential and non-residential camps. The Easter Seal Society's 4 camping programs-Camp Harmony Hall, R.D. #1, Middletown; Camp Daddy Allen, Hickory Run State Park, White Haven; Camp Easter Seal, R.D. #4, Laurel Hill State Park, Somerset; Camp Lend-AHand, R.D. #2, Conneaut Lake-have participated in the program since its inception. Over 70% of our clients are children of parents with low incomes; many are recipients of public assistance. Through participation in this program of donated commodities, we have been able to serve more children, and give them additional nutritious items of food. Yet, we can keep our costs at a level that enables a volunteer nonprofit health agency to serve children from all areas of Pennsylvania. We respectfully urge your support of the extension and continuation of food commodities Senate Bill 850. Sincerely, (S) J. E. Feeley (MISS) JEANNE E. FEELEY, Director of Recreation and Camping. FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN AND ADULTS OF CONNECTICUT, INC., HON. CARL CURTIS, Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee, THE EASTER SOCIETY Hartford, Conn., March 31, 1975. DEAR SENATOR CURTIS: This letter is addressed to you in your capacity as a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. The Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults of Connecticut, Inc., as well, I am sure, as many other non-profit agencies are in need of your immediate help! The Connecticut Easter Seal Society has for some years been running a summer camp for the handicapped. In June 1974 a new facility was built in Hebron, Connecticut which extends recreational and educational programs to the handicapped on a year-round basis. We call this new facility the Hemlocks Outdoor Education Center. In past years our summer camp has been the recipient of food commodities provided by the Department of Agriculture made available through the School Lunch Act of 1968-Public Law 90-302, and subsequently, through an amendment to this act in 1974-Public Law 93-347. The Connecticut Easter Seal Society has been in contact with Miss Roberta Van Beek, Washington Representative for the National Easter Seal Society, and we are deeply concerned over the apparent discontinuation of federal food surplus subsidies to non-profit institutions such as the Hemlocks Outdoor Education Center for the handicapped in Connecticut. As we understand the current situation, no federal food commodities will be available for our current summer program starting in June 1975. In light of the current economic climate and spiraling food costs the impact of cutting off these donated commodities will result in the loss of thousands of dollars in increased food costs to the Hemlocks Outdoor Education Center in Connecticut, but further, will have equally devastating results on the more than fifty-five non-profit Easter Seal camps throughout the United States as well as materially affecting all other non-profit summer camp programs throughout the United States. May we respectfully appeal for immediate action by your Committee to insure the continued availability of federally supported food subsidies to non-profit institutions. Thank you for your consideration and attention. Sincerely, MALIN D. MARTIN, STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FOOD EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS The National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers is most appreciative for the opportunity to submit its views on this most important issue of amendment to and extentions of the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts. NAFEM is a major national organization representing 275 member companies engaged in the production of a wide variety of food preparation, storage, transportation, and serving equipment. We were deeply concerned by the President's recent budget proposal for fiscal year 1976 as it would adversely affect the School Lunch and Child Nutrition Programs. As we understand the Administration's proposed budget, absolutely no funds are specifically designated for these programs. As an alternative, a bloc-grant proposal has been put forward by the Ford Administration which would effect a $600 million reduction in overall child nutrition funding. Now is the time, NAFEM believes, to revitalize and even to expand these important programs. When he recently introduced his bill (S. 850) to amend the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts, Senator George McGovern said; "At a time when food costs are rising over 15 per cent per year, when unemployment is hitting recordbreaking numbers, when double digit inflation is bewildering almost everyone, when the farm economy is in trouble, and when local economies need a boost, the Federal nutrition programs are in a unique position to be used to help, not to hurt, our people." Yet, perpetuation of the present system may not be the wisest course. First, inefficiency-and, therefore, relatively low productivity-is evident in the food preparation and service aspects of the School Lunch Program. Second, the United States is a nation which has experienced extraordinary agricultural achievements. But in order to ensure that we get the most out of those achievements, every aspect of food delivery must be efficient. Moreover, the delivery or distribution of precious nutrition calls for a total program. We need expansion and improvement of these programs so that other children and infants might receive badly needed nutritional meals. Because it cuts costs and reduces waste of foods, efficiency, however measured, is, no doubt, the strong foundation of socially responsible and economical institutional feeding programs. Productivity in the School Lunch Program remains somewhat low. In fact, according to figures presented last year to the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs by Mr. D. Dean Rhodes, a director of both the National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers and the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, school lunch preparation and service productivity for 1974 was "in many cases" still at 1946 levels. The upgrading of equipment and the escalation of non-food assistance now will, in the long run, benefit the current program but also facilitate its ultimate growth and improvement. Nearly twenty years ago a "Central Kitchen System" serving satellite schools was proposed in lieu of the individual unit kitchens still maintained by each participating institution. The cost advantages were and are obvious-but so is the obstacle posed by the initial start-up cost. Yet, if schools had the requisite capital in 1956 to accomplish the installation of a "Central Kitchen System," school lunch labor would be producing 300 percent more lunches today at the same level of funding. For lack of dollars in 1956, the School Lunch Program today is less than efficient and out-dated in its operation. We stand at the same crossroads as we did eighteen years ago; we have an opportunity through the utilization of the latest equipment and systems technology to build an institutional feeding program which will nourish more persons, more quickly, more economically. Obviously the funds are not this year available for the major investmentproductive though it would be-of changing to central kitchens for all school systems. Yet even the limited additional funding made available for equipment in S. 850 would significantly assist schools in providing nutritious lunches to their students. Such provisions would, we believe, serve to the benefit of the recipients with the more economical use of the taxpayers' dollars. We strongly urge that the provision for additional funds for food service equipment be part of the school lunch program enacted by this Congress. The National Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers requests that this Congress build rather than sustain a system fast becoming antiquated and wasteful. Give American citizens, young and old, the most for their dollars. Right now, no amount of money will solve the problems plaguing the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Programs unless we seek to provide participating institutions with the proper tools and best food service systems. STATEMENT OF G. L. WALTS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TURKEY FEDERATION The National Turkey Federation is the only national trade association organized to promote and serve the best interests of the turkey industry in the United States. Included in our membership of 3,000, are turkey growers, primary turkey breeders, hatcherymen, processors and marketers, plus supporting commercial firms providing goods and services to the industry. The membership of the National Turkey Federation is responsible for the production and marketing of the major portion of the nation's turkey crop and is characterized by many small and medium-size producers depending on a profitable turkey production operation as their only means of livelihood. During the National Turkey Federation Board of Director's meeting on January 7, 1975, the following Resolution was unanimously approved: Whereas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made effective use of turkey products in the School Lunch Program during 1974, and Whereas, the purchase of whole carcass turkey, turkey rolls and ground turkey provide exceptional nutrition for school age children: Therefore, be it Resolved, That the National Turkey Federation hereby commends the Department of Agriculture for its use of turkey and turkey products in the School Lunch Program during 1974, and for the manner in which these purchases were timed and implemented, and be it further Resolved, That the National Turkey Federation expresses its appreciation to the Department of Agriculture for this purchase program, recognizing these purchases greatly assisted in stabilizing prices to producers, and urges continuation of purchases of turkey and turkey products for the School Lunch Program in 1975, utilizing a centralized federal procurement system. It is in this context the National Turkey Federation fully supports the concepts embodied in S. 850 and other similar bills relative to the maintenance of commodity purchases by the Secretary of Agriculture to support the National School program and other food assistance programs. This legislation provides for the continued use of Section 32 funds to purchase, distribute and donate nutritious agricultural commodities and other foods to the participating schools and service institutions over a three year period. For many years, the Secretary of Agriculture has purchased turkey and turkey products using Section 32 funds. The product thus purchased has been distributed by the Department to largely support School Lunch programs, in addition to various other federally supported feeding programs. Through these purchases, it has been possible for the Secretary to provide a relatively low cost, highly nutritious food item to the recipients, and at the same time, greatly assist turkey producers in stabilizing market prices. With respect to nutritive values, it has been demonstrated through competent nutrition research, that turkey meat contains an exceptionally high level of protein and certain vitamins, but at the same time, is quite low in calories and cholesterol content compared to many other meat food products. Without question, turkey is the perfect meat for growing youngsters requiring high levels of protein and also for the aged, whose needs for high protein and low calorie foods is a matter of scientific evidence. Due to the seasonal character of turkey production and marketing, it is necessary that a substantial amount of product be stored beginning midyear in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas marketings. The mid-year in-storage movement places growers and marketers in a very weak bargaining position, as the retail demand for turkey is at a very seasonal low. It is at this time of the year that turkey generally is in a surplus condition and represents an excellent buy for the Department of Agriculture in supporting food assistance programs, plus assisting turkey producers by developing a confidence level in the market place through such direct purchases. It is quite likely that turkey production in 1975 will be somewhat below the 131 million birds grown in 1974. This reduction in turkey numbers is not by choice, but by necessity. Turkey producers suffered devastating losses last year due to the combination of low markets and high costs, particularly feed, which represents approximately 70 percent of the cost of producing a turkey. However, recent trends in the industry indicate the major reduction in the 1975 crop will occur during the first several months of the year. It is anticipated production will increase from present levels and a substantial number of birds will be available for marketing beginning mid-year. It is possible the industry will find itself |