With more than $8 billion in commitments from private companies and organizations partnering with public sector agencies already in his pocket, President Joe Biden hosted a gathering of advocates, food manufacturers, grocery chains and agriculture experts at the White House Wednesday to discuss food insecurity in the United States with the goal of eliminating hunger in the US by 2030, CNN reports.
“In America, no child, no child should go to bed hungry. No parent should die of disease that can be prevented,” Biden told the group of more than 100 businesses and organizations that have made commitments to help alleviate the shortage of places people can buy or get healthy food options in their communities.
The last such conference, a 1969 meeting hosted by then-President Richard Nixon, resulted in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, as well as school meal programs for underprivileged students.
The contributions promised include efforts by supermarkets like Meijer, which will improve pricing and food choices for fresh fruits and vegetables for people on WIC or SNAP. Publix announced a $3.9 million effort to supply local food banks and schools with food, as well as developing mobile food banks to help in areas where its stores are located.
Food conglomerate Danone and pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk will provide a combined $42 million to improve people’s dietary habits, increase knowledge about nutrition, and increase their physical activity in safe, inclusive environments.
Food insecurity came into the national spotlight during the pandemic in 2020, when millions of people turned to food banks and other charities to get food as 24 million people lost their jobs in two months after the previous administration failed to react to the spread of the coronavirus. For weeks, news reports showed cars lined up for miles and thousands of people queued in places like Texas and Florida as the shortage of supplies in stores and people suddenly out of work could not longer find or afford groceries.