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The
pledges will be announced as part of a White House summit on
Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first in over 50 years, with
participation from President Joe Biden, Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack, and Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, as well as
several lawmakers and New York city Mayor Eric Adams.
Biden aims to end U.S. hunger and reduce diet-related diseases
in a majority of Americans by 2030, but is turning to the
private sector to underwrite some of the spending, after
Congress failed to further extend school lunch aid.
Pandemic assistance helped quell hunger rates for U.S. families
in recent years, but hunger again climbed following the
expiration of child tax credit payments in January, while
soaring food prices stretch family budgets.
Congress's decision earlier this year to extend only through
September, 2022 aid that helped schools feed millions of U.S.
children over the last two years is likely to further hammer
families in need.
Key contributions to be announced Wednesday include a pledge by
nonprofit FoodCorps to invest $250 million for free, healthy
school meals and to expand nutrition education in schools. The
Food Industry Association will also promise to get its members
to donate 2 billion meals to food banks and other organizations
next year while making it easier to use food stamp benefits
online.
Meanwhile, Wholesale food distributor Sysco will donate 200
million meals to national hunger-related charities and food
banks, worth about $400 million, over the next five years.
Senior administration officials briefing reporters ahead of the
summit, the first of its kind since 1969, declined to offer a
timeline for the new aid, but said details would be forthcoming.
The private sector commitments also come after recent
revelations of hundreds of millions of stolen federal dollars
that were supposed to be spent on food aid during the
coronavirus pandemic.
When asked about mechanisms to ensure companies and
organizations follow through on their pledged donations, the
officials said the administration would work closely with the
donors to ensure compliance.
"We are exploring what our next steps look like in terms of
accountability," the officials said, speaking to reporters on
condition of anonomity.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Christopher Walljasper;
Editing by Stephen Coates)
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