Tom Harkin: “If my friend will yield, I think that is absolutely true. First of all, it is true that a lot of times low-income people…”

“If my friend will yield, I think that is absolutely true. First of all, it is true that a lot of times low-income people don't have access to a more healthy environment. The food deserts we call them in our inner cities, where they do not get the fresh fruits and vegetables and items like that. That has to be addressed also, making it easier for them to be healthy. Again, it is an awareness. I would say to my friend one other thing, and I hope my friend will take a look at what is now undergoing a trial period. It is something that was put in the last farm bill as a trial period for food stamp recipients--people who are on what they call food stamps, which are not food stamps anymore, as the Senator knows--to provide incentives for low-income people, people who use food stamps, to purchase more fruits and vegetables rather than just starches, fats, and sugars. That project is ongoing now. So I would say to the Senator that perhaps next year he might want to take a look at that with the Secretary of Agriculture and see how that project is doing. Again, this is just a trial, an experiment, to see what we can do to incentivize people who are on food stamps to use them more for more healthy foods. But it is that lack of awareness. The Senator is absolutely correct.”