A new effort from the Bipartisan Policy Center to combat food and nutrition insecurity is headlined by a celebrity chef and former ag secretaries but also includes heavy-hitters from all aspects of food and agriculture.
The Bipartisan Policy Center on Tuesday announced its Food and Nutrition Security Task Force, which will be co-chaired by former Ag Secretaries Dan Glickman and Ann Veneman, World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés, and FMI-The Food Industry Association President and CEO Leslie Sarasin. The task force is a one-year effort “to improve access to healthy foods and diet quality for all Americans,” BPC said in a release.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the gaps in our collective ability to combat nutrition insecurity as millions of American families have gone without enough to eat,” Andrés said. “Now more than ever, we must seek bold solutions that bring the power of the federal government together with the nonprofit and private sectors to end hunger and make food an opportunity to create a better tomorrow.”
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BPC said the task force will review current policy and issue recommendations to improve food security during COVID-19 and the economic recovery; strengthen child nutrition programs; and enhance the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including through potential farm bill action.
The task force, Veneman added, “seeks to inform federal policy that will address the long-term health, educational, and economic impact of food and nutrition insecurity throughout the country. This is a crisis that can’t wait.”
Other members of the task force include Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Healthy Schools Campaign President and CEO Rochelle Davis, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, United Fresh President and CEO Tom Stenzel, and several others from the medical and nutrition community.
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