Experience with the resulting demonstration projects has clearly shown-and I quote from the Administration on Aging's preliminary evaluation of these projects that "the provision of meals in a group setting is a highly desirable approach because it fosters social interaction, facilitates the delivery of other services, and meets emotional needs of the aged while improving their nutrition."

The success of these demonstration projects has been reflected in recommendations for the establishment of a permanent program. The Panel on Aging of the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health recommended that the Administration on Aging and the Department of Agriculture undertake a permanent funding program of daily meal delivery service for the aged in group settings. Similarly, the President's Task Force on the Aging, in its April 1970 report, recommended the development of a program of technical and financial assistance to local groups to provide daily meals to older people.

S. 1163 would carry out these recommendations.

During hearings last year on a similar bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Claude Pepper, the administration expressed its opposition to a "categorical grant program" in favor of the intergration of "nutrition services into a system of comprehensively delivered social services." To date no administration proposal to achieve this goal has been forthcoming.

The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was originally scheduled to testify on S. 1163 today, has asked that they be permitted to present their views at a later time, as have representatives of the Department of Agriculture.

In his message of May 1969, President Nixon stated that "the time has now come to put an end to hunger in America itself for all time.” Federal funding for the remaining 18 nutrition demonstration projects is now expiring. To meet the goal set by the President, I believe the Congress should proceed without undue delay to establish a nutrition program especially tailored to the needs of the elderly. To this end, I am hopeful that we can have the constructive comments and recommendations of the administration in the near future.

At this point, I will ask that the text of S. 1163 and the recommendations of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health and the President's Task Force on the Aging, to which I have referred, be printed in the hearing record.

(A copy of S. 1163 follows:)

68-179 O - 71-7

92D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

S. 1163

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 10, 1971

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. EAGLETON, Mr. BIBLE, Mr. CHURCH, Mr. CRANSTON, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. Moss, Mr. PASTORE, Mr. PELL, Mr. PERCY, and Mr. TUNNEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare

A BILL

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide grants to States for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of low-cost meal programs, nutrition training and education programs, opportunity for social contacts, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tires of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. Title VII of the Older Americans Act of

3

4 1965 is redesignated as title VIII, and sections 701 through 5 705 of that Act are respectively redesignated as sections 801 6 through 805.

7

SEC. 2. The Older Americans Act of 1965 is amended

8 by inserting the following new title immediately after title

VI thereof:

II

4

2

"TITLE VII-NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR THE

ELDERLY

"FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

"SEC. 701. (a) The Congress finds that the research 5 and development grants, title IV, Older Americans Act, 6 nutrition program has demonstrated the effectiveness of and 7 the need for permanent nationwide programs to provide the 8 nutritional and social needs of millions of persons aged sixty9 five or older who are unable to overcome the complex and 10 intertwining problems of inadequate diets. Many of these 11 elderly persons do not eat adequately because they cannot 12 afford to do so, while others, who are economically better off, 13 do not eat well because they lack the skills to select and pre14 pare nourishing and well-balanced meals, have limited mo15 bility which may impair their capacity to shop and cook for 16 themselves, and have feelings of rejection and loneliness 17 which obliterate the incentive necessary to prepare and eat 18 a meal alone. These and other physiological, psycho19 logical, social, and economic changes that occur with aging 20 result in a pattern of living, which causes malnutrition and 21 further physical and mental deterioration.

22

“(b) In addition to the food stamp program, commodity 23 distribution systems and old-age income benefits, there is an 24 acute need for a national policy aimed at providing the

2

ly with low cost, nutritionally sound meals served in

3

1 strategically located centers such as community centers, sen2 ior citizen centers, schools, and other public or private non3 profit institutions suited to such use and through other means 4 toward this purpose. Besides promoting better health among 5 the older segment of our population through improved nutri6 tion, such a program, implemented through the use of a 7 variety of community resources, would be a means of pro8 moting greater opportunity for social contact ending the 9 isolation of old age, increasing participants' knowledge of 10 nutrition and health in general, and promoting positive men11 tal health and independence through the encouragement of greater physical and mental activities.

12

14 "SEC. 702. (a) In order to effectively carry out the

15

16

17

18

19

purposes of this title, the Secretary shall

"(1) administer the program through the Admin

istration on Aging; and

"(2) consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and

make full utilization of the Federal Extension Service,

20 the Food and Nutrition Service, and other existing

21

12

services of the Department of Agriculture.

(b) In carrying out the provisions of this title, the 23 Secretary is authorized to request the technical assistance 21 and cooperation of the Department of Labor, the Office of 25 Economic Opportunity, the Department of Housing and

4

1 Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, and 2 such other departments and agencies of the Federal Gov3 ernment as may be appropriate.

4 "(c) The Secretary is authorized to use, with their con5 sent, the services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of 6 Federal and other agencies with or without reimbursement, 7 and on a similar basis to cooperate with other public and 8 private agencies and instrumentalities in the use of services, 9 equipment, personnel, and facilities.

10 "(d) In carrying out the purposes of this title, the Sec11 retary is authorized to provide consultative services and 12 technical assistance to any public or private nonprofit insti13 tution or organization, agency, or political subdivision of a 14 State; to provide short-term training and technical instruc

15

tion; and to collect, prepare, publish, and disseminate special 16 educational or informational materials, including reports of 17 the projects for which funds are provided under this title.

18

19

"ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS

"SEC. 703. (a) (1) From the sum appropriated for a 20 fiscal year under section 708 (A) the Commonwealth of 21 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, 22 and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, shall each be 23 allotted an amount equal to one-fourth of 1 per centum of 24 such sum and (B) each other State shall be allotted an

nount equal to one-half of 1 per centum of such sum.