Hunger in America ‘not widespread’

Press, 11 January 1984, Page 8

Hunger in America ‘not widespread’

NZPA-Reuter Washington

A Presidential commission on hunger said in its draft final report, made public yesterday, that hunger existed in America but was not widespread.

President Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on Food Assistance, formed in September to look at food aid programmes, said that lack of data had made it difficult to assess the true extent of hunger.

"There is no official ‘hunger count’ to estimate the number of hungry people. Those who argue that hunger is widespread and growing rely on indirect measures,” it said.

To most Americans, hunger meant a state where people could not get enough food, “even if the shortage is not prolonged enough to cause health problems.” “In this sense, we cannot

doubt there is hunger in America,” it said. But it had not been able to substantiate allegations of “rampant hunger.” Controversy over the Reagan Administration’s attitude toward the issue was fuelled by the Presidential counsellor, Edwin Meese, who said last month that he had seen no “authoritative figures” to show there were hungry people in the United States.

The report said that for the vast majority of lowincome people, food aid programmes and income maintenance from public and private sources was sufficient.

The task force met yesterday to discuss and vote upon recommendations in the draft report before submitting a final version to Mr Reagan, probably next week.

The 13-member commission’s main recommendations include making participation in existing Federal food aid programmes optional for each state.

States which opt out of the Federal programmes, including food stamps and aid for children, would instead receive a single block grant for their own schemes.

The stamps are vouchers which can be traded at stores for food.

The task force also recommended that, to be eligible for food stamps, households should be able to own assets of up to SUS22SO instead of SUSISOO now. Members of the commission said that the panel’s main intention was to make food aid more accessible and to shift more responsibility for helping the hungry from the Federal to the local level.