Biden: America doesn't have food shortage problem but a 'lack of leadership'
Former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday during a Yahoo News virtual town hall said that the United States does not have a food shortage issue, but a leadership issue. He also said that President Trump should stop trying to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for Americans.
Video Transcript
- What kinds of changes to food policy do we need now and will we need going forward to prepare ourselves for the next crisis?
JOE BIDEN: Well, first of all, the president should stop trying to cut the SNAP program, which is essentially the food stamp program. In the middle of this crisis, he is, in fact, cutting food stamps. He wants to cut the access to food stamps, or SNAP, as it's known as.
Number two, not getting the protection that the workers need in the production plants, from the meatpacking plants, all across the board. They don't have the gear. They don't have the masks. They don't have the gloves. They don't have the need and the separation needed to protect them. They don't even have OSHA, which is the safety standards set up by the administration, by the federal government. Those standards have been weakened and lessened.
People are getting-- you know, they're getting laid off by the millions. People don't have the money to be able to stay-- to be able to take care of everything from the rent to their food needs. And thirdly, what's happening is, all the money that the Congress has passed to help people in this dire need-- it's not going to the right people. It's not getting to those mom and pop stores. It's not getting to people who need to be able to pay workers who stay on the payroll. It's not getting to people who need relief. And so it's just not being done very well at all.
You know, I want to make clear to all your listeners that we don't have a food shortage problem. We have a leadership problem. We have plenty of food. It's being plowed under. You've got-- you're euthanizing cattle and pigs. They're out there making sure that they're pouring thousands of gallons of milk into the ground. It's not a food shortage. It's a lack of leadership-- a lack of leadership.
And the leadership goes across the board. One of the reasons why those processing plants aren't open is because they're not safe for people to work in those plants. Number one, they're not safe. They're not getting the protective gear they need. Number two, one of the reasons why we're not getting material and food to people's tables is because there's no way to get it transported to there. We don't know how to manage what's going on.
For example, imagine if we were to say to the country that, tell all those milk producers, that just send-- send all that milk to the bottling plant. The federal government will pay for it. And the federal government will give it away to all of the folks who need it. We'll give it away to all those charitable organizations that are out there trying to feed people, trying to give people what they need.
Imagine if we were willing to take the time. I mean, we have the best agricultural system in the world. It's the leadership that's-- we-- you know, we can't afford to let people go wondering where they're going to get their next meal. And so right now, hunger today isn't about scarcity. It's about massive failure in leadership.
And we've got to-- look. We've-- he could have ordered the-- the president could have ordered the government to buy food-- buy food from farmers and send it to food banks. But he failed to step up. He refused to protect food workers and health safety. Thousands of meat packer workers got sick, got the virus. And some died.
If I were president today, what I would do-- I would be protecting farm, meat packers, farm workers, food suppliers. I'd boost the SNAP program. I'd harness the restaurant industry to help get food to those who need it and help get millions of laid off workers back to work and the job. That's what the chef's doing. This is not rocket science. It's leadership.
