A Tasteful Pursuit
Congressman Jim McGovern
at A Tasteful Pursuit in Washington, DC
Bringing political will to the table
On May 15 at Share Our Strength’s A Tasteful Pursuit dinner in Washington, DC, Congressman Jim McGovern shared his important insights on hunger and the reasons why it is more critical than ever to end hunger in the United States.
Congressman McGovern’s Speech
“Thank you to Billy Shore for the invitation to be here, for his incredible work, and Rosemary and so many people around him who are associated with Share Our Strength. I want to thank Charlie Palmer and the chefs that are participating tonight for lending their talent. I want to thank all the sponsors for tonight’s event. Let me bring it back to Share Our Strength and thank the incredible staff and supporters. I want to single out Share Our Strength for their incredible work and their efforts to end childhood hunger.
“I have become passionate about this issue and hunger is a horrible thing to see, but especially tragic amongst our children. This organization has done so much to try to end childhood hunger in the United States. I think it’s unbelievable and I am so proud to be here. The dedication and commitment is inspirational and I really feel privileged to be here with all of you, because everybody here is here for the right reasons. There are good people in this room and it’s a great contrast to be here, as opposed to being on the Hill, but hopefully that will change in the fall.
“Let me say a couple of brief things. First of all, hunger is a problem in the United States and it’s probably relatively shameful as we’re the richest country on the planet. And yet there are people here who are hungry. There are people here who don’t know where their next meals will come from. There are a lot more hungry people in the United States than a lot of people in the United States realize. There are a lot more hungry people than elected officials realize. The face of hunger in this country is not the child with the swollen belly or the sunken eyes, but it is a lot of children, who go to school without eating, who don’t take advantage of the free breakfast program because either their family can’t get it together to get them there early to school, or they don’t want to be stigmatized by going earlier and having to admit that they are poor. There are kids that go to school who haven’t eaten not only breakfast but dinner and lunch or breakfast the day before. I have two sisters who are school teachers and they see that every single day. And kids who go to school who are hungry can’t learn. Kids who go to school who are hungry are more likely to get sick. And kids who are hungry and get sick and show up at the emergency room are more likely to end up spending the night at the emergency room. And this whole problem gets worse and worse and worse. Hungry kids grow up to be unhealthy adults. And so it is imperative that we focus on the children.”
