White House convenes Hunger, Nutrition and Health conference to tackle health challenges

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week the White House is tackling hunger, nutrition and health.

This comes as millions are struggling to get food for their families or living with diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

This is first time in more than 50 years that the White House has hosted a Hunger, Nutrition and Health conference. Biden administration officials say they’re working on a plan to reduce hunger and diet-related diseases by 2030.

This conference comes as food advocates say for one in six Americans access to nutritious food is either too expensive or too far away, or both!

The Partnership for a Healthier America is one of the nonprofit organizations that attended this hunger summit.

The organization’s president Nancy E. Roman said they want more businesses to make healthier food and spend more money marketing those options.

Another goal for them is prioritizing public health at the federal level.

“A big problem is people get plenty of calories, you know, either eating fast food or food from the corner store, but they’re not getting good nutrition and we haven’t really focused on quality of food and food as a tool to build health,” said Roman, President & CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America.

The White House also announced more than $8 billion in private and public sector commitments to help address hunger and nutrition.

This includes Partnership for a Healthier America’s new corporate partners in its commitment to add 100 million additional servings of vegetables, fruits, and beans to the marketplace by 2025. The nonprofit said it’s working with both the White House and the CDC Foundation to help companies develop long-term food equity.

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