McGovern

From Roll Call in an article entitled "McGovern's Milestones":

George McGovern will be the guest of honor at a series of events on Capitol Hill this weekend in honor of the 35th anniversary of his presidential campaign against Richard Nixon and his upcoming 85th birthday. The festivities will shine light on the former Democratic Representative and Senator from South Dakota’s efforts to stamp out global hunger.

“I think it’s fair to say that there’s probably no one who has made as profound an effect as [George McGovern has] in the fight against hunger,” said Marshall Matz, a lobbyist and the chairman of the board at the Friends of the World Food Program.

Specifically, McGovern has advocated for food stamp subsidies and in-school meal programs in Congress, in his role as President John F. Kennedy’s first director of the Food for Peace Program and as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. He currently is continuing his efforts as the WFP’s global ambassador for hunger, a position he has held since 2001.

This weekend, the collective effects of his advocacy will be remembered at a World Hunger Symposium at 10 a.m. on Saturday at The George Washington University.

Those familiar with his work say these effects are staggering, particularly in the arena of subsidized meals for children in school. In the United States, the number of students receiving lunches provided by the government soared from 19.4 million in 1969 to 30.1 million in 2006 — thanks in large part to McGovern, according to Matz.

On the global scene, his mark is present through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which served 3.4 million students in 15 countries last year.