Tom Colicchio Advocates for Early Child Nutrition

Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio spoke to Rachel Martin from NPR's Morning Edition on Monday, May 1. Above is a clip from the interview, and here is an excerpt from the NPR report.

 You have focused your policy work and advocacy on hunger. What's the biggest lever for change on that issue in the U.S. right now?

From A Place at the Table site

The biggest lever for change is actually making foods more nutritious. We produce a lot of calories in this country — calories are cheap but nutrition is expensive. [We need] to try to figure out ways to make nutrition more affordable and accessible, especially for people who are struggling to feed themselves.

The average people who are receiving food stamps are children, people with disabilities and seniors. After that, the majority of people who receive benefits are working. They're just struggling; they're not making enough money. We have to look at the benefit of making sure that people are well-nourished — especially when we talk about children. 

If we want children to live up to their potential, be part of the economy and continue to add to the fabric of society, then they have to have early nutrition. They have to understand what nutrition is about and where their food is from. And they need to grow up nourished. If we are excluding 13 million children, what does that portend for the country 20 years from now? Could Meals On Wheels Really Lose Funding? Yes, But It's Hard To Say How   Read the full NPR Report

Below is a 2014  interview with Colicchio and fellow celebrity chef Rachel Ray about their anti-hunger work.