Late last year, I joined Meals on Wheels in Lowell to deliver lunch on one of their normal routes.  I was shocked when we pulled up to several homes in a seemingly comfortable community to deliver meals to people, many of whom were seniors, who simply could not afford to buy food.

Right here, in our own backyard, working families are struggling to put food on the table.  According to Project Bread, a non profit organization fighting hunger in Massachusetts, the 5th District has several areas where people don't have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs.  Hunger is especially prevalent in Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, and Methuen, where one child in three lives in a family unable to meet its basic need for food, and where the pervasiveness of hunger is nearly 4 times greater than the statewide average.

We are fortunate to have several organizations in our communities that are fighting hunger on a daily basis and helping to serve those in need.  I have seen first hand the good work that Rev. Paul O'Brien and Cor Unum in Lawrence do every day for the elderly, children and adults - serving between 300-500 people every evening.  But food costs are rising (up 57 percent from March 2007 to March 2008) making it more difficult for food charity organizations to serve those seeking assistance. Second Harvest, the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization, surveyed 180 food banks nationwide to determine the impact the economic downturn is having on food banks and agencies, including soup kitchens and food pantries.  They found a 15-20 percent increase on average in the number of people turning to them for help now compared to one year ago. More people and less food due to skyrocketing costs, has stretched many programs to their full capacity preventing them from being able to adequately provide for the needs of those they seek to serve.

Last week, I supported the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill, and this week I voted to override the President's veto of this bill.  I supported this important legislation because it helps to provide needed support to food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens like Cor Unum and Meals on Wheels.  It increases funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (a Federal program that helps feed low-income needy persons, including elderly people, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance) by $1.25 billion, with $50 million for immediate shortages. 

Nearly three-fourths of the Farm Bill - an additional $10.4 billion in new spending - goes to nutrition programs that help 38 million American families afford healthy food. 

It updates the food stamp program to reflect the current state of our economy finally increasing the one dollar per person per meal average benefit, where it has been since 1977.  Over the next 4 years, these critical food stamp provisions will help nearly 11 million people purchase groceries.  This will be critical to Massachusetts where over 250,000 households benefit from food stamps each month.

Furthermore, the Farm bill also provides $1 billion for free fresh fruits and vegetables for public schools to provide healthy snacks to students. Last month, I toured the brand new Lawrence High School and had lunch with students in the new cafeteria where I saw firsthand the need for this funding.  Without proper nutrition, our students grow up more at risk for illness and chronic disease.  With nearly 28.2% of students in Massachusetts eligible for the School Lunch Program or After-School Snack Program, this increase in funding will go a long way. 

The Farm bill was not perfect and while I would have liked to have seen more significant reforms made to the subsidies given to large, commercial farms, the bill makes some strides to ensure that subsidies reach those farmers who need them most by capping payments to wealthier farmers and including continued access to loans and subsidies for small farms throughout the country.  This will result in a broader, more equitable, and more effective system of payments while significantly decreasing the overall cost of these payments to taxpayers.

At a time when families are making difficult decisions on where to spend their hard earned money, determining whether they can afford to eat should not be one of them. Additional funding for important programs that will help ease this burden deserves support.

My vote for the 2008 Farm Bill was a vote against hunger, and I was proud to cast it on the strength of these very important improvements.