AS DELIVERED
Good evening.
Speaker Pelosi says, “Food is medicine.” First Lady Biden says, “Food is love.” Chef Jose Andres says, “Food is hope.” And I say, “Food is home.”
I grew up in Louisiana. As a diplomat for over 35 years, I have been stationed all around the world – from Pakistan to Liberia, Jamaica to Switzerland. Whenever I miss Louisiana, I cook up a big pot of red beans or gumbo. Because food brings us back to where we are safe and happy. It brings us back home.
Everyone deserves that, in the words of President Biden, “If parents can’t feed their children, nothing else matters.” My father used to say, with pride, “My kids never go to bed hungry.” But many parents around the world can’t say that. Because right now, the world is experiencing the worst hunger crisis any of us have ever seen.
Global Citizens, the world needs food. We need it to survive. So I was so proud when, earlier this week, the President announced the U.S. would provide nearly $3 billion to combat hunger. But while that money will go far, it is not enough.
We need your help. You are the generation that will make sure everyone around the world has enough to eat, for the first time in history. I know that’s true, because I’ve seen it in action. In the last month alone, I met with young rural farmers in Ghana and young urban farmers in Chicago. Ghana and Chicago are about as different as jollof rice and deep-dish pizza.
But in both places, young people told me they were learning more about where their food comes from. They were learning how to grow and sustain food where they live, and how to turn that into jobs and careers for their communities.
Let’s make sure everyone gets fed – everyone. No one should go to bed hungry. Let’s give everyone medicine, love, hope, and a home.
Thank you.
Original source can be found here.
