After more than 50 years, the White House hosted the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on Wednesday, Sept. 28. During the conference, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its plan to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030 by committing $8 billion: “Today, the White House announces a historic package of new actions that business, civic, academic, and philanthropic leaders will take to end hunger and to reduce diet-related disease.” This past summer, the Biden-Harris Administration called the American people to action to commit to this new plan. In response, $8 billion of public- and private-sector commitments were received.
In 2021, 10.2 percent of American households encountered a form of food insecurity. The plan involves five pillars laid out by the White House, including Pillar One: Improve Food Access and Affordability, Pillar Two: Integrate Nutrition and Health, Pillar Three: Empower Consumers to Make and Have Access to Healthy Choices, Pillar Four: Support Physical Activity for All and Pillar Five: Enhance Nutrition and Food Security Research.
Pillar One involves 23 companies and institutions, some including, AARP, Publix, Chobani, Doordash, Google and the University of California System. Publix, specifically, donated $3.85 million to over 20 Feeding America food banks. In order to help Americans find access to public food and health care services, Google will announce a new product and update its search abilities. Pillar Two is made up of 14 organizations, a few of which are Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Nemours Children’s Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation will initiate a two-year plan and $3.5 million in the fall of 2022 to increase access to healthy foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics will work on training pediatricians in nutrition insecurity and public nutrition resources. Similar to other organizations, Nemours Children’s Health will enlarge donations, as well as education regarding food security and health.
There are 15 organizations under Pillar Three, including Instacart, that will form new partnerships, work with USDA and make diet tags on foods. Other members of pillar three include Tyson Foods, which will invest $255 million into anti-hunger charities, and Walgreens, which will increase its fresh food selection by 20 percent by 2030. Pillar Four, which emphasizes physical activity, comprises five important members: Community Gyms Coalition, Special Olympics, MyFitnessPal, National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the YMCA. Lastly, Pillar Five includes Children’s Healthwatch, Grow Local, International Fresh produce Association, Rockefeller Foundation and the American Heart Association, Seafood Nutrition Partnership and University of Arkansas School of Law Journal of Food and Law Policy.
In an executive summary of the conference, the White House states, “The Biden-Harris Administration envisions an America where no one wonders whether they will have enough money to put food on the table, where the healthy food choice is the easier choice, and where everyone has the same opportunity to be physically active.” The plan hopes to expand free school lunches, which will require an unlikely positive Congressional vote. More than 500 people attended this conference, and over 100 corporations donated to the hunger and health causes laid out by the Administration.
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