SFA Day in D.C. Spring Summit
Snack Industry Asks Congress for Help
on Commodities, Food Prices
Snack food company executives from across
the nation personally urged members of the U.S. Congress
May 13 to take action to help reduce pressure on skyrocketing
food and commodity prices and to carefully address food
safety and childhood nutrition issues in the months
ahead.
Some 47 executives of Snack Food Association member
companies fanned out over Capitol Hill to meet with
Senators, Congressmen and top staff members in their
offices and let them know just how important those and
other issues are to their businesses and their employees. |
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) discusses commodity cost
crisis with SFA members from Ohio during Day in D.C.
meeting at his office.
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| "The record turnout at our Day In D.C.
event reflects the importance of current legislative issues
and the desire by SFA members to unite in expressing the
importance of these issues to their government representatives,"
said SFA Chairman Daryl Thomas, senior vice president,
sales and marketing, Herr Foods, Inc., Nottingham, PA.
In meeting after meeting, snack food executives urged
lawmakers to:
- Revisit federal food-to-fuel mandates and subsidies
in an effort to reduce increasing commodity prices
and their impact on food price inflation, and accelerate
development of cellulosic ethanol derived from crop
wastes, grasses and other materials that do not increase
food prices.
- Support the Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards
and Targeting Act (Safe Feast Act), introduced by
Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Putnam (R-FL), which
would strengthen food safety requirements without
overburdening companies with unnecessary regulations
and fees.
- Use the reauthorization of the Childhood Nutrition
Act in 2009 to consider the most effective ways of
combating childhood obesity, including emphasis on
increased exercise and dietary balance while avoiding
restrictions on specific foods.
“The biggest single crisis facing the global
economy is the food vs. fuel situation,” Rich
Rudolph, Rudolph Foods Co., told Sen. George Voinovich
(R-OH), as well as every other lawmaker and aide with
whom he met. “It is absolutely critical that we
do something about it, or it’s only going to get
worse.”
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Terry McDaniel, The Inventure Group, Phoenix, AZ,
meets with Sara Decker, legislative assistant to Rep.
John Shadegg (R-AZ) and outlines his concerns about
biofuels and their impact on commodity costs.
Michael Stick, Snyder’s of Hanover, Inc.,
tells staff representatives of Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
that demand for corn caused by the need for ethanol
as mandated by the federal government will triple the
amount of land needed for corn over the next five to
seven years. “It’s going to eat this country
up,” he says.
Click HERE for
more photos. |
Rudolph was joined by several other snack
food executives from Ohio who met with the senator in
his office, all of whom emphasized the impact of steadily
increasing food prices on consumers – and voters.
“We cannot price our products so they are no longer
affordable for the consumer,” said Scott Smith,
Shearer’s Foods, Inc., Brewster, OH.
Voinovich clearly understood their concerns and said
he is searching for answers, having requested a study
of options by the General Accountability Office (GAO).
But he was not yet ready to support elimination of subsidies
for ethanol production.
He was also frank with his visitors regarding child
nutrition. “In terms of school lunch, we have
an obligation to make those lunches as healthy as possible
and not have a whole lot of carbs in them,” he
said.
Still, members were encouraged. “It wasn’t
long ago that he wouldn’t even meet with us,”
recalled Dan McGrady, Wyandot, Inc., Marion, OH. “Now,
he recognizes us. That’s encouraging.”
Sometimes the unpredictable Congressional schedule
disrupted appointments, but still SFA members were able
to adjust and get their messages heard. For example,
members from Pennsylvania-based companies were scheduled
to meet with Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), but instead met
with two legislative staffers, Alex Davis and Karyn
Long.
Thomas explained problems associated with the commodity
food price crisis, noting that some companies have experienced
as much as a 15 percent increase in the cost of goods
as a result. “It’s unprecedented, and we
need relief from the mandate on biofuels and its impact
on corn,” he said.
|
Joe Shultz, legislative assistant to Sen. Sherrod
Brown (D-OH) listens as SFA member company executives
explain their concerns about potential food safety and
child nutrition legislation.
Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture Kate Houston
outlines Bush Administration views regarding nutrition
policy during special reception at USDA headquarters.
Pausing during the USDA reception (l-r) Bob and Melissa
Shearer, Shearer’s Foods, Inc., Brewster, OH,
and Tom Howe, Baptista’s Bakery, Inc., Franklin,
WS.
|
The staffers discussed the need for developing “second
generation” fuels and to use more non-food feedstocks
for ethanol production. “Sen. Casey understands the
impact that biofuels are having on commodity prices,”
Davis assured them.
Regarding childhood obesity, Long said reauthorization of
the Childhood Nutrition Act will be “a major, major
priority issue for the senator.”
On the House of Representatives side of the Capitol, Terry
McDaniel, The Inventure Group, Phoenix, AZ, met with Sara
Decker, legislative assistant to Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)
and outlined his concerns about biofuels and their impact
on commodity costs.
He pointed out that potato and edible oil costs have dramatically
increased, as have transportation and the cost of natural
gas. “If we could suspend any more mandates, that would
help,” McDaniel said, referring to federal requirements
that ethanol and other alternative fuels must comprise increasing
percentages of motor fuels. At his company, rising costs have
resulted in reduced pay raises for employees and other personnel
actions. “People are being impacted,” he said.
“It’s unavoidable.”
“The Congressman has long questioned these policies,”
said Decker. “We’re keeping track of that.”
And so it went, meeting after meeting – almost 50 were
scheduled in all.
“Our members did what they came to do,” said
SFA President & CEO Jim McCarthy. “They took their
messages to Congress. Now, we’ll see what happens. Over
the last three years, our attendance at this meeting has steadily
increased and we at least held our ground on the issues addressed.
Hopefully, next year, even more members will participate.
It is a true exercise in democracy – and it’s
critically important to our industry.”
SFA Members Welcomed at USDA
A highlight of the SFA Spring Summit was a special reception
held in the historic headquarters of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, where Kate Houston, Deputy Under Secretary, USDA
Food Nutrition and Consumer Services welcomed SFA members.
Houston spoke as Congress was finalizing the 2008 Farm Bill,
a sweeping measure that includes Food Stamps and other important
programs. She emphasized that the Administration’s position
is “that there should be no limitations on the kinds
of foods that can be purchased with food stamp benefits.”
“Our approach is to use nutrition education to improve
the likelihood that persons eligible for the Food Stamp Program
will make healthy choices within a limited budget and choose
physically active lifestyles consistent with the current Dietary
Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid.”
She noted that her department and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services are now preparing for new 2010 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, and that as soon as the advisory
committee for that program is named, work will begin. It will,
however, be finalized under the new administration after it
takes office next January.
She also pointed out that preparation is underway for the
2009 Child Nutrition reauthorization process. She said in
2006 all schools participating in school meal programs were
required to establish Local School Wellness Policies. “USDA
believes snack foods can play an important role in rounding
out the diets of children if they include nutritious food
such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains,”
she said.
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