ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120094
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: CURT ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
American agriculture makes this a land of plenty, but there's also plenty of waste when it comes to the millions of pounds of perfectly good food thrown out every year.
``It's just intolerable and wrong,'' said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 13.8 billion pounds of food wind up in landfills each year, enough to feed 49 million people. Put another way, that would equal 46,000 Boeing 747s loaded to capacity with food discarded from hotels, restaurants and grocery stores.
Now, the Clinton administration and Congress are taking new steps to make sure more of that surplus food ends up in front of hungry people.
``We decided we would make this a national priority,'' Glickman said of food recovery. ``It's not in place of programs like food stamps. It's to augment them.''
Late last year, President Clinton issued a directive that all federal agencies and government contractors work to recover extra food at cafeterias, public events and food service facilities.
``Recovering that surplus food can make a real difference in the fight against hunger in America,'' the president said.
The Department of Agriculture set up a toll-free telephone line - 1-800-GLEAN IT - to help people find out how to rescue more food and find a local distribution network.
And more than 400 people called that toll-free line in January when it was featured in a TV public service announcement by actor Matthew Fox, who plays restaurateur Charlie Salinger on Fox's ``Party of Five.''
Part of the plot of the Jan. 15 show involved donations of food by the restaurant to a food bank run by his girlfriend.
``Cooperative efforts such as the one undertaken by the Fox network provide this volunteer movement with a tremendous boost,'' Glickman said.
Clinton also signed into law the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, passed by Congress to remove liability for anyone who donates food in good faith that harms someone, unless there is evidence of gross negligence.
These efforts have led major companies such as Southland Corp., which operates 5,400 7-Eleven stores, and Pizza Hut to donate more food for the hungry. American Express recently described the Good Samaritan law in a newsletter to restaurants, leading to heightened interest from them.
The nation's biggest distributor of perishable recovered food, Foodchain of Kansas City, Mo., collected more than 100 million pounds of food last year in 42 states. But marketing coordinator Marty Ramey said there is demand for much more.
``The majority of people who go hungry are children and senior citizens,'' Ramey said. ``Food is typically the last thing they pay for. They pay their power bill and skimp on the food.''
Ramey said Foodchain's 119 member organizations are given guidelines on safe handling of the food, and some restaurants refrigerate or freeze it to make it easier to distribute.
``These products may be a tray of lasagna that just didn't sell,'' Ramey said. ``If it's questionable, or it goes bad, then it's discarded.''
USDA has led the federal government's effort to rescue food, donating about 150 pounds a week from its two central cafeterias in Washington to the D.C. Central Kitchen. Glickman is working with other federal agencies to donate their excess cafeteria food, particularly the Defense Department and its hundreds of military bases.
Last summer, Glickman oversaw a program using members of Americorps, the president's public service organization for young people, to recover 1,000 tons of food at the Olympics, in cities and on farms across the country.
Part of that effort involved going through fields that had already been harvested to pick up leftover produce. The USDA guide says people should get in touch with local Farm Service agencies about how to find farmers willing to donate.
``There's a lot of food that can be distributed, and it can help create a sense of volunteerism and community,'' Glickman said.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB