photo courtesy :wral

John Edwards visited a food bank near his home in North Carolina yesterday, as part of the unveiling of his new 6 point plan to combat widespread hunger. Also as part of this campaign, he laid out an effort encouraging  his supporters to take action over the holiday season and do the following:

From his Website: Volunteer at least one hour at a soup kitchen, donate at least one can to a food bank, give one lead-free children’s toy to a toy drive, and call on one friend or family member to do the same.

              John Edwards on his Plan:

 ”This week, as families across the country come together to give thanks, we are reminded of the sad fact that millions of American families still go hungry. Food insecurity is one more sign that the economy is not working for regular families. While the costs of health care and energy keep increasing, the average family is earning less than they did in 2000 and the cost of food is rising faster than it has at any time in nearly 20 years. More than 35 million Americans went hungry last year, including almost 13 million children.

“America is better than this. I believe it is our moral obligation to fight the special interests in Washington and build One America where no man, woman or child goes hungry. But we don’t have to wait till 2009 to create change- we can start taking action right now. That’s why today I’m issuing the `One Can Change America’ challenge to encourage everyone this holiday season to get involved in their own communities and take part in building a better America from the ground up.”

Edwards’ six-point plan to address widespread hunger includes a call for Congress and the president to get back to work and pass a farm bill with strong nutrition programs, new proposals to expand food stamps and other food aid for low-income families and seniors, help for families facing the “heat or eat” dilemma due to high home heating costs, and ensuring healthy food access in every community by creating a national food access map and a Healthy Neighborhoods Seed Fund to promote healthy foods in every neighborhood.

Edwards returns to the campaign trail  Sunday, in New Hampshire.