Tom Harkin: “The nutrition title is one of the most important titles in our farm bill. This is a part of the farm bill that talks…”

“The nutrition title is one of the most important titles in our farm bill. This is a part of the farm bill that talks about who we are and what we are about as a nation. To the extent we help people in lower income brackets, people who may be out of work, the elderly, the disabled, newly arrived immigrants, those who qualify because of income or status to have better nutrition, it helps all of us. It helps our health care system because these people are not always going off to an emergency room to get help; their health is better. It lessens the load on our health care system. Second, it helps in education. Kids who are fed, if they have a good nutritious breakfast, learn better. We know that. It also helps our farmers. This is a market. As one of my friends from my old days in the House--God rest him--Jerry Litton used to always say--he was a great Irishman. He died tragically in a plane crash. He represented a rural part of Missouri across the State line from my district. He used to say, if you are going to give a dollar to someone in this country, give it to someone who is poor. They will spend it on food and that helps my farmers and it helps all of the country. And that is still true today.”