NEW HANDBOOK WILL HELP GUIDE RESTAURANTS TOWARD FOOD RECOVERY

                                            Release No. 0419.97

                                      Johna Pierce (202) 720-4623
                                            johna.pierce@usda.gov
                                         Susan Acker 703-305-2286
                                         susan_acker@fcs.usda.gov

NEW HANDBOOK WILL HELP GUIDE RESTAURANTS TOWARD FOOD RECOVERY

     WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 1997- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
joined the chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association to
unveil a new, comprehensive handbook that will encourage restaurants to
recover and donate unused food.
 
     Glickman and CEO/President Herman Cain, in a news conference at Jaleo,
a Washington-area restaurant, said the handbook -- Food Donation: A
Restauranteur's Guide -- represents the fulfillment of a pledge the
Association made at the National Summit on Food Recovery and Gleaning on
September 15, 1997.

     "I congratulate the National Restaurant Association for acting so
quickly on its promise to give its members detailed information they can use
immediately to begin recovering food to feed hungry people," Glickman said.

     In addition, Glickman announced that American Express has agreed to
provide funds to publish and distribute the food recovery guide. 
Representatives from Washington area restaurants attending the news
conference also said they would increase their donations to the DC Central
Kitchen, which is a member of Foodchain -- the National Food-Rescue Network.

     "I am proud to be here today with representatives from organizations
and companies that share my dedication to fighting hunger in America,"
Glickman said.  "Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, is set aside to give thanks for
the bounty we have.  But it must also be a time to remember and -- as we are
today -- to commit to helping those in need."

     A USDA study released earlier this year showed that more than one-fourth of all the food produced in the United States   about 96 billion
pounds -- is wasted every year.  

     "We can feed thousands more people each day if we can recover even a
fraction of that food," Glickman said, "although food recovery can never
take the place of our federal food assistance programs which help feed
millions of people every day."

     The sponsors of the National Summit on Food Recovery and Gleaning set
a goal to increase by 33 percent the amount of food recovered and gleaned
and distributed to Americans in need by the year 2000.  "This modest
increase will provide an additional 500 million pounds of edible food per
year--enough to support daily meals for 450,000 Americans." Glickman said.

     Glickman also announced two other new food recovery initiatives:

     --USDA is creating a new $120,000 program, using existing funds, to
give small grants to school districts across the country to encourage
schools to involve students in food recovery-related community service.

     --Working with the National Rifle Association and local hunting
groups, USDA's Forest Service is providing assistance to programs that help
hunters donate meat for distribution to hungry people through food banks.  

     --Representatives of the national non-profit food recovery groups
Second Harvest and Foodchain also attended the event.

                                #

NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet.
Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov