May 15, 1975
Page 14768
THE PLIGHT OF POTATO GROWERS
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution. (S. Res. 122) expressing to the Secretary of Agriculture the sense of concern felt by the Senate for the present plight of potato growers across the country, which had been reported from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, with the preamble amended as follows–
On page 1, in the second "Whereas" clause, strike out "high quality protein" and insert "nutritious food".
In the fourth, "Whereas" clause, after the word "is" insert "the imbalance of inadequacy of vitamins, minerals, and"; and after the word "protein" strike out the word "deficiency".
On page 2, in the third "Whereas" clause, strike out, high quality" and insert vitamin, minerals, and plant".
In the fifth "Whereas" clause, strike out the word "protein" and insert the word "food.".
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on. agreeing to the resolution.
Mr. HATHAWAY. Mr. President, I rise in support of Senate Resolution 122 and I would like briefly to recount the problem which it addresses, and the reasonable solution to which I believe it proposes.
The problem, Mr. President, is simply an abundance of potatoes. Potato farmers across the country responded to the heavy demand and high prices of recent times by producing a harvest large enough to bring consumer prices down to levels not seen since the 1930's. Thus, many growers now find themselves with potatoes which can be sold only at a loss. The consumer's benefit from this situation will be short-lived unless potato prices rise, as the farmer, like any businessman, cannot for long afford to do business at a loss.
Accordingly, this resolution, directed to the Secretary of Agriculture, seeks to underscore the Senate's concern over the situation I have just described, and it urges the Secretary of Agriculture to take immediate action to distribute potato stocks pursuant to existing laws.
Specifically, the Secretary has long been authorized to purchase agricultural commodities for domestic consumption under section 32 of the act of August 24, 1935 and section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949; and for foreign distribution under Public Law 480 – the food-for-peace program.
I believe that the present supply of potatoes is primarily a useful blessing. For there are hungry people, at home and abroad, who would gratefully partake of some of these agricultural riches. And it is clear that these potatoes will do no one any good if allowed to remain in potato house bins across the country.
As the committee has so accurately noted in its report, potatoes are an important source of protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C, among other minerals and vitamins.
Mr. President, what we have is a supply of potatoes which may be purchased at favorable prices to benefit both the people who will consume them and the farmers who grow them. It does not require high intelligence, nor a profound analysis of this situation,. to conclude that the Secretary of Agriculture, under authority of long-standing statutes and without adverse effect upon the consumer, can in large measure remedy this temporary but troublesome situation.
I am confident that appropriate action by the Secretary of Agriculture – indeed, I applaud his recent but promising efforts in the use of potato granules in the food for peace program – will favorably alter the present situation and encourage the resumption of normal market forces which generally prove satisfactory to grower and consumer alike.
Mr. President, I urge swift passage of this resolution.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD a statement by the senior Senator from Maine (Mr. MUSKIE).
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
STATEMENT BY SENATOR MUSKIE
I join my colleague Senator Hathaway in urging Senate approval for S. Res. 122, which is designed to encourage use of potato stocks in our domestic and foreign food distribution programs. This resolution calls on the Secretary of Agriculture to take advantage of the existing abundance of potatoes by purchasing and distributing them at very favorable terms, in order to feed the needy at home and hungry people around the world.
Everyone familiar with the potato industry would agree that there is a substantial surplus of potato stocks today. And those familiar with the nutritional content of potatoes would agree that. the potato compares favorably even with soybeans, acre for acre, in protein.
Potatoes have dropped to their lowest price levels in decades, and stocks on hand are dramatically higher this year. In Maine, for example, there were 13 million hundredweight on hand in April, compared to 9.3 million in April of 1974 – an increase of 40 percent in one year. At the same time, prices have plunged from as much as $16 to $17 a barrel last year to $2.75 to $3.00 in the current week.
Mr. President, in many cases farmers in my state are not even recouping their cost of production.
It makes good agricultural and business sense for the Department of Agriculture, therefore, to make significant purchases of potatoes at their present depressed price. It would represent a bargain for the government, and it would reduce the oversupply which is depressing the market. .
And it makes good humanitarian sense to stretch our federal food dollar as far as it can go to assist the needy in the U.S. and the starving overseas. The recent World Food Conference has estimated that almost a half billion people suffer from malnutrition throughout the world. And there are many hard-pressed Americans who cannot make their food budget go far enough.
Finally, there are many schools participating in the School Lunch program that are presently experiencing severe financial problems brought on by the rise in food costs.
Potatoes would be an ideal source of protein at a reasonable price for all these uses.
The Secretary of Agriculture has agreed to test the use of potato granules in the Food for Peace Program, and I am hopeful that the test will demonstrate the worth of potatoes as a protein source.
The Resolution we approve today will be a further encouragement to use potatoes in federal commodity programs.
Mr. President, I urge passage of S. Res. 122.
Mr. McCLURE. Mr. President, I would like to express my appreciation to the chairman and members of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry for their prompt action in reporting Senate Resolution 122 to the floor. I hope that their favorable action will be mirrored by the full Senate, and that the administration will see such action as a clear indication of our intent and our concern.
I hope it will also be clearly recognized that this resolution is not an attempt to "bail out" potato producers, although any relief to this hard-pressed industry will certainly be welcome. Clearly, many of us are concerned about the severe problems facing producers of several agricultural commodities, including potatoes. But we should also be concerned about the efficiency and effectiveness of our food aid programs both at home and abroad. We would like to make adequate quantities of good food available to those in need, and to do so as economically as possible, with a minimum of disruption of the market.
It just makes good sense, therefore – to farmers, to consumers, and to taxpayers – to use in our food assistance programs those high-food-value commodities that are available in abundance. Today, potatoes fill that bill perfectly. While stocks of some products often used in our aid programs are at an alltime low, and prices are relatively high, potato stocks are abundant and the price is low. Food products are not entirely interchangeable, and nutritive values and other factors must be considered. But the Government has an obligation to the taxpayers and aid recipients not unlike that of a homemaker to her family; an obligation to shop wisely – to provide the best meals possible with the least damage to the budget.
I was pleased by the administration's announcement of a test project using dehydrated potatoes mixed with nonfat dry milk in one of our aid programs.
The combination of the two products appears to have potential for use as a "whole meal" commodity – a single food which provides all essential nutrients. This has obvious advantages in simplicity of handling, preparation, and serving, and can be especially valuable in disaster relief or other difficult situations.
Hopefully, successes in this small test project will lead to much broader applications, and provide us with even greater flexibility in our aid programs. However, as pointed out in the resolution, potatoes are a perishable commodity. By proceeding too slowly, with only very small test projects, we may be missing the valuable opportunities provided by our present abundant potato stocks. At a time when so many people here and around the world are without enough to eat, we should not allow increasingly valuable foods to rot because of market imbalances or bureaucratic delays.
I therefore urge my colleagues to join affirmatively in this expression of concern to the administration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution.
The resolution was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:
S. RES. 122
Resolution expressing to the Secretary of Agriculture the sense of concern felt by the Senate for the present plight of potato growers across the country.
Whereas the United States is suffering from a severe economic recession, with a high rate of unemployment; and
Whereas the poor and the unemployed in the United States need substantial additional quantities of nutritious food; and
Whereas the recent World Food Conference estimated that almost a half a billion people suffer from malnutrition in the world today; and
Whereas a basic cause of malnutrition is the imbalance or inadequacy of vitamins, minerals, and protein; and
Whereas it is the commitment of the United States, as expressed in various statutes, including the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480), to share our agricultural abundance with needy persons domestically and in other parts of the world; and
Whereas national stocks of potatoes are presently unusually abundant and purchases of potatoes could be effected now by the Department of Agriculture on extremely favorable terms, which would be beneficial both to the farmer and to the Government: and
Whereas American potatoes represent an important source of vitamins, minerals, and plant protein; and
Whereas potatoes are a perishable commodity; and
Whereas this valuable source of food should be distributed expeditiously to a hungry world,
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved. That it is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Agriculture immediately take steps to distribute potato stocks in useful edible forms to needy persons at home and abroad under the domestic food assistance programs and the Public Law 480 program.