United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs
Encyclopedia
The United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs was a select committee of the United States Senate
between 1968 and 1977. It was sometimes referred to as the McGovern committee, after its only chairperson, Senator George McGovern
of South Dakota
.
and malnutrition
in the United States. It had been brought to public attention by the 1967 field trip of Senators Robert F. Kennedy
and Joseph S. Clark
to see emaciated children in Cleveland, Mississippi
, by the 1967 broadcast of the CBS News
special Hunger in America, and by the 1968 publication of Citizens Crusade Against Poverty's report Hunger USA. The last of which showed that diseases such as kwashiorkor
and marasmus
– thought only to exist in underdeveloped countries – were present in America.
Existing Senate and House committees were uninterested in pursuing the issue, with House Agriculture Committee
chair William R. Poage
saying "The basic problem [of hunger and malnutrition] is one of ignorance as to what constitutes a balanced diet, coupled with indifference by a great many persons who should and probably do not know," and Senate Agriculture Committee
chair Allen Ellender saying "I know that in my state we had a number of fishermen who were unable to catch fish. Do you expect the government, because they cannot catch fish, to feed them until the fish are there?" Political activist Robert B. Choate, Jr.
first came up with the idea of forming a joint congressional committee to probe the hunger problem. McGovern, who had been involved in food-related issues throughout his congressional career and who had been Director of Food for Peace
in the Kennedy administration during the early 1960s, thought that confining the committee to just the more liberal Senate would produce better chances for action. McGovern gathered 38 co-sponsors for the committee's creation, a resolution quickly passed the Senate, and McGovern was named the committee's chair in July 1968. However, the Senate Rules Committee gave essentially no funding to it that year, so it was inactive; in February 1969, McGovern successfully battled the Rules Committee to restore the normally allocated funding and the select committee's operations began.
Membership of the committee during 1969 and 1970 consisted of eight Democrats and five Republicans, and were:
Later members of the committee included
Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota
,
Patrick Leahy
of Vermont
,
Edward Zorinsky
of Nebraska
,
Richard Schweiker
of Pennsylvania
,
Gaylord Nelson
of Wisconsin
,
Henry Bellmon
of Oklahoma
,
Alan Cranston
of California
,
and Mark Hatfield
of Oregon
.
Following the Kennedy-Clark path, McGovern sought to dramatize the problem with an onsite visit and so took the committee to Immokalee, Florida
, the base for 20,000 mostly black or Hispanic migrant farm workers. They saw graphic examples of hunger and malnutrition firsthand, but also encountered resistance and complaints about bad publicity from local and state officials. Moreover, local officials were suspected of blocking existing assistance to workers, on the grounds the migrants were "federal people, not Immokalee people." Outside the special committee, McGovern battled the Nixon administration and southerners in Congress during much the next year over an expanded food stamp program; he had to compromise on a number of points, but the legislation signed in 1970 established the principles of free food stamps and a nationwide standard for eligibility. Federal commodity assistance came to Immokalee as well.
The committee worked with others in organizing a White House conference
on the issue, which led to the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health in 1969.
In 1971, McGovern expanded the focus of the committee to look at environmental conditions that affected eating habits. He toured the abandoned, destroyed neighborhoods of The Bronx, New York, and issued a report highly critical of the Federal Housing Administration
for failed urban renewal efforts. Further committee involvement by McGovern faded for a while as he became caught up in his opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War and in his 1972 U.S. presidential campaign
.
Throughout, the select committee held hearings in which it heard from academics, non-governmental organizations, educators, health and nutrition experts, school officials, the medical community, and the public. The committee's work filled many volumes of hearing reports. Staff members on the committee included lawyer Jack Quinn
, future diplomat Julia Chang Bloch
, and nutritionist D. Mark Hegsted
.
Beginning in 1974, McGovern expanded the committee's scope to include national nutrition policy. Now, the committee's focus was not just on not eating enough, but also eating too much.
In January 1977, after having held hearings on the national diet, the McGovern committee issued a new set of nutritional guidelines for Americans that sought to combat leading killer conditions such as heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis. Titled Dietary Goals for the United States, but also known as the "McGovern Report", they suggested that Americans eat less fat, less cholesterol, less refined and processed sugars, and more complex carbohydrates and fiber. (Indeed, it was the McGovern report that first used the term complex carbohydrate, denoting "fruit, vegetables and whole-grains".) The recommended way of accomplishing this was to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less high-fat meat, egg, and dairy products. While many public health officials had said all of this for some time, the committee's issuance of the guidelines gave it higher public profile.
The committee's "eat less" recommendations triggered strong negative reactions from the cattle, dairy, egg, and sugar industries, including from McGovern's home state. The American Medical Association
protested as well, reflecting its long-espoused belief that people should see their doctor for individual advice rather than follow guidance for the public as a whole. Some scientists also thought the committee's conclusions needed further expert review. Others felt that the job of promulgating recommendations belonged to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council
. Under heavy pressure, the committee held further hearings, and issued a revised set of guidelines in late 1977 which adjusted some of the advice regarding salt and cholesterol and watered down the wording regarding meat consumption.
They were unsuccessful, and at the close of 1977 the committee was subsumed as the Subcommittee on Nutrition
within the newly retitled United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
. In reaction, Percy said "I do not know of another committee which ... had to lay bare its whole soul and have an accountability to the whole Senate, as we have had year after year after year. Senator Edward Brooke
said that the select committee had simply lacked external clout because its constituency was poor and not organized, and called its ending "a sad commentary upon the Senate".
The committee's work in raising the national understanding of the link between nutrition and chronic disease led to several amendments being passed to the existing National School Lunch Act
and Child Nutrition Act
.
The McGovern committee guidelines led to reorganization of some federal executive functions to support the related aims and became the predecessor to the more detailed Dietary Guidelines for Americans later issued twice a decade by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
.
Two nutrition authors wrote in 2008 that "Perhaps as much as any single force, the bipartisan Select Committee brought credibility to the hunger and nutrition issues ..." Their conclusion is echoed by three nutrition authors writing in 1986, who said:
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
between 1968 and 1977. It was sometimes referred to as the McGovern committee, after its only chairperson, Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
.
Formation and members
The impetus for formation of the committee was a rising concern about hungerHunger
Hunger is the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience the physical sensation of desiring food.-Malnutrition, famine, starvation:...
and malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
in the United States. It had been brought to public attention by the 1967 field trip of Senators Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and Joseph S. Clark
Joseph S. Clark
Joseph Sill Clark, Jr. was a U.S. lawyer and Democratic Party politician in the mid-20th century. He served as the mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 until 1956, and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1957 until 1969...
to see emaciated children in Cleveland, Mississippi
Cleveland, Mississippi
Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 census.Cleveland has a fairly large commercial economy, with numerous restaurants, stores, and services along U.S. Highway 61...
, by the 1967 broadcast of the CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
special Hunger in America, and by the 1968 publication of Citizens Crusade Against Poverty's report Hunger USA. The last of which showed that diseases such as kwashiorkor
Kwashiorkor
Kwashiorkor is an acute form of childhood protein-energy malnutrition characterized by edema, irritability, anorexia, ulcerating dermatoses, and an enlarged liver with fatty infiltrates. The presence of edema caused by poor nutrition defines kwashiorkor...
and marasmus
Marasmus
Marasmus is a form of severe protein-energy malnutrition characterized by energy deficiency.A child with marasmus looks emaciated. Body weight may be reduced to less than 80% of the average weight that corresponds to the height . Marasmus occurrence increases prior to age 1, whereas kwashiorkor...
– thought only to exist in underdeveloped countries – were present in America.
Existing Senate and House committees were uninterested in pursuing the issue, with House Agriculture Committee
United States House Committee on Agriculture
The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of some federal agencies, and it can recommend funding...
chair William R. Poage
William R. Poage
William Robert Poage was a Texas politician.Poage was born in Waco, Texas and served in the United States Navy during World War I. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1925 to 1929, and in the Texas Senate from 1931 to 1937.In 1936, Poage was elected to the House of Representatives...
saying "The basic problem [of hunger and malnutrition] is one of ignorance as to what constitutes a balanced diet, coupled with indifference by a great many persons who should and probably do not know," and Senate Agriculture Committee
United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
The Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition and...
chair Allen Ellender saying "I know that in my state we had a number of fishermen who were unable to catch fish. Do you expect the government, because they cannot catch fish, to feed them until the fish are there?" Political activist Robert B. Choate, Jr.
Robert B. Choate, Jr.
Robert Burnett Choate, Jr. was an American businessman, political activist, and self-described "citizen lobbyist" most famous for his work in consumer protection....
first came up with the idea of forming a joint congressional committee to probe the hunger problem. McGovern, who had been involved in food-related issues throughout his congressional career and who had been Director of Food for Peace
Food for Peace
Public Law 480 also known as Food for Peace is a funding avenue by which U.S. food can be used for overseas aid....
in the Kennedy administration during the early 1960s, thought that confining the committee to just the more liberal Senate would produce better chances for action. McGovern gathered 38 co-sponsors for the committee's creation, a resolution quickly passed the Senate, and McGovern was named the committee's chair in July 1968. However, the Senate Rules Committee gave essentially no funding to it that year, so it was inactive; in February 1969, McGovern successfully battled the Rules Committee to restore the normally allocated funding and the select committee's operations began.
Membership of the committee during 1969 and 1970 consisted of eight Democrats and five Republicans, and were:
- George McGovernGeorge McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
of South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, chair - Allen Ellender of LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
- Herman TalmadgeHerman TalmadgeHerman Eugene Talmadge was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. He served as governor of Georgia briefly in 1947 and again from 1948 to 1955. His term was marked by his segregationist policies. After leaving office Talmadge was elected to the U.S...
of GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... - Ralph YarboroughRalph YarboroughRalph Webster Yarborough was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate and was a leader of the progressive or liberal wing of his party in his many races for statewide office...
of TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... - Philip HartPhilip HartPhilip Aloysius Hart was a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan from 1959 until 1976. He was nicknamed the Conscience of the Senate.-Early years:...
of MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... - Walter MondaleWalter MondaleWalter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
of MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state... - Edward M. Kennedy of MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
- Claiborne PellClaiborne PellClaiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...
of Rhode IslandRhode IslandThe state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
- Jacob Javits of New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Charles PercyCharles PercyCharles Percy may refer to:*Charles H. Percy , United States Senator and businessman*Charles "Don Carlos" Percy , founder of a wealthy lineage in the southern United States...
of IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... - Peter H. DominickPeter H. DominickPeter Hoyt Dominick was a politician and lawyer from Colorado. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the United States Senate from 1963 to 1975. His uncle, Howard Alexander Smith, was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1944 to 1959.Born in Stamford, Connecticut, Dominick graduated from St...
of ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains... - Marlow CookMarlow CookMarlow Webster Cook is a former Republican United States Senator from Kentucky.-Early life:Cook moved to Louisville when he was 17. He joined the United States Navy and served on submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War II...
of KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth... - Robert Dole of KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
Later members of the committee included
Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
,
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
,
Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky
Edward Zorinsky was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Nebraska, serving from 1976 until his death.- Early life :...
of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
,
Richard Schweiker
Richard Schweiker
Richard Schultz Schweiker is a former U.S. Congressman and Senator representing the state of Pennsylvania. He later was Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan.-Early life:...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
,
Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. A Democrat, he was the principal founder of Earth Day.-Public service and leadership:...
of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
,
Henry Bellmon
Henry Bellmon
Henry Louis "Harry" Bellmon was an American Republican politician from Oklahoma. He was a member of the Oklahoma Legislature, the 18th and 23rd Governor of Oklahoma , and a two-term United States Senator.-Service in World War II:Bellmon was born in Tonkawa, Oklahoma and graduated from Billings...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
,
Alan Cranston
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
,
and Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield
Mark Odom Hatfield was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
.
Hearings, investigations, and actions
The committee's initial goal was to study the problem of hunger and recommend a multi-faceted federal response.Following the Kennedy-Clark path, McGovern sought to dramatize the problem with an onsite visit and so took the committee to Immokalee, Florida
Immokalee, Florida
Immokalee is a census-designated place in Collier County, Florida, United States. The population was 19,763 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area. The settlement was originally known as Gopher Ridge...
, the base for 20,000 mostly black or Hispanic migrant farm workers. They saw graphic examples of hunger and malnutrition firsthand, but also encountered resistance and complaints about bad publicity from local and state officials. Moreover, local officials were suspected of blocking existing assistance to workers, on the grounds the migrants were "federal people, not Immokalee people." Outside the special committee, McGovern battled the Nixon administration and southerners in Congress during much the next year over an expanded food stamp program; he had to compromise on a number of points, but the legislation signed in 1970 established the principles of free food stamps and a nationwide standard for eligibility. Federal commodity assistance came to Immokalee as well.
The committee worked with others in organizing a White House conference
White House conference
A White House conference is a national meeting sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States with the purpose of discussing an issue or topic of importance to the American public. Some last for one day while others last for several...
on the issue, which led to the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health in 1969.
In 1971, McGovern expanded the focus of the committee to look at environmental conditions that affected eating habits. He toured the abandoned, destroyed neighborhoods of The Bronx, New York, and issued a report highly critical of the Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
for failed urban renewal efforts. Further committee involvement by McGovern faded for a while as he became caught up in his opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War and in his 1972 U.S. presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
.
Throughout, the select committee held hearings in which it heard from academics, non-governmental organizations, educators, health and nutrition experts, school officials, the medical community, and the public. The committee's work filled many volumes of hearing reports. Staff members on the committee included lawyer Jack Quinn
Jack Quinn (lawyer)
Jack Quinn was born and grew up in New York. He attended Georgetown University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971. Quinn later attended night classes at Georgetown University Law Center while serving as a staff member on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs ...
, future diplomat Julia Chang Bloch
Julia Chang Bloch
Julia Chang Bloch was an American diplomat, and the first U.S. ambassador of Asian origin. She is also the founder and current president of the US-China Education Trust.-Life and Political Career:...
, and nutritionist D. Mark Hegsted
D. Mark Hegsted
David Mark Hegsted was an American nutritionist who studied the connections between food consumption and heart disease...
.
Beginning in 1974, McGovern expanded the committee's scope to include national nutrition policy. Now, the committee's focus was not just on not eating enough, but also eating too much.
In January 1977, after having held hearings on the national diet, the McGovern committee issued a new set of nutritional guidelines for Americans that sought to combat leading killer conditions such as heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis. Titled Dietary Goals for the United States, but also known as the "McGovern Report", they suggested that Americans eat less fat, less cholesterol, less refined and processed sugars, and more complex carbohydrates and fiber. (Indeed, it was the McGovern report that first used the term complex carbohydrate, denoting "fruit, vegetables and whole-grains".) The recommended way of accomplishing this was to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less high-fat meat, egg, and dairy products. While many public health officials had said all of this for some time, the committee's issuance of the guidelines gave it higher public profile.
The committee's "eat less" recommendations triggered strong negative reactions from the cattle, dairy, egg, and sugar industries, including from McGovern's home state. The American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
protested as well, reflecting its long-espoused belief that people should see their doctor for individual advice rather than follow guidance for the public as a whole. Some scientists also thought the committee's conclusions needed further expert review. Others felt that the job of promulgating recommendations belonged to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
. Under heavy pressure, the committee held further hearings, and issued a revised set of guidelines in late 1977 which adjusted some of the advice regarding salt and cholesterol and watered down the wording regarding meat consumption.
End
The committee had won annual extensions each year, despite some institutional opposition, especially from southern Democrats. During 1977, however, there was a large-scale effort to reform the Senate's overall committee system, which was seen as unwieldy, especially in having some 34 special, select, or joint committees. Intense politicking took place as to which select or special committees would survive, and McGovern and Dole fought hard to preserve the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.They were unsuccessful, and at the close of 1977 the committee was subsumed as the Subcommittee on Nutrition
United States Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms
TheU.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Food and Agricultural Research is one of five subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.-Jurisdiction:...
within the newly retitled United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
The Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition and...
. In reaction, Percy said "I do not know of another committee which ... had to lay bare its whole soul and have an accountability to the whole Senate, as we have had year after year after year. Senator Edward Brooke
Edward Brooke
Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...
said that the select committee had simply lacked external clout because its constituency was poor and not organized, and called its ending "a sad commentary upon the Senate".
Results and legacy
The McGovern committee suffered the usual institutional limitations of select committees, in that they could highlight problems but could not report legislation to the floor. Instead, its members had to support legislation being worked on elsewhere, or find a regular standing committee that would introduce legislation on their behalf. Nevertheless, the committee often overcame these restrictions, and it greatly highlighted the dimensions of the nation's problem with hunger, and its work led to major changes and additions into how federal food assistance programs worked. Towards the end of the committee's lifetime, it had become effectively institutionalized as the key congressional agent in the hunger, food assistance, and nutrition areas.The committee's work in raising the national understanding of the link between nutrition and chronic disease led to several amendments being passed to the existing National School Lunch Act
National School Lunch Act
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act is a United States federal law signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1946. The act created the National School Lunch Program , a program to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools...
and Child Nutrition Act
Child Nutrition Act
The Child Nutrition Act is a United States federal law signed on October 11, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the National School Lunch Program to help meet the nutritional needs of children." The National...
.
The McGovern committee guidelines led to reorganization of some federal executive functions to support the related aims and became the predecessor to the more detailed Dietary Guidelines for Americans later issued twice a decade by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture created on December 1, 1994, and is the focal point within the USDA where scientific research is linked with the nutritional needs of the American public....
.
Two nutrition authors wrote in 2008 that "Perhaps as much as any single force, the bipartisan Select Committee brought credibility to the hunger and nutrition issues ..." Their conclusion is echoed by three nutrition authors writing in 1986, who said:
More than anything else, it was probably the McGovern committee that sparked the change in public thinking about the American diet. For although it set out to investigate the causes of hunger in the United States, the committee quickly found that malnutrition in this country covers not diseases of deficiency, but also diseases of excess.