Frozen Food Month

Floor Speech

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I wish to acknowledge Frozen Food Month and to recognize the frozen food industry's significant efforts to ensure that families and schoolchildren across the United States have access to healthy, affordable foods such as fruits and vegetables.

In our all too often hectic lives, frozen foods give Americans the flexibility to quickly prepare meals that are both nourishing and affordable.

School lunch planners also rely on frozen foods as they seek to serve healthy, child-friendly meals while stretching limited budgets. For instance, frozen fruits and vegetables are readily available and offer outstanding nutritional value to schoolchildren year-round.

Even during these tough economic times, the frozen food industry continues to provide much needed American jobs, with almost 100,000 employees working in nearly 700 facilities nationwide.

I would like to take this opportunity to honor one of my home State's own frozen food companies, National Frozen Food Corporation. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, National is currently celebrating its 100th year as a leader in the frozen foods industry.

National began its impressive history when a man named William McCaffray, Sr., started selling frozen strawberries in 1912. With a $5,000 loan from a friend, Mr. McCaffray built his small business from the ground up, and in the 1930s expanded to selling frozen vegetables as well as fruit. From Mr. McCaffray's humble beginnings, National has grown to be one of our country's premiere private-label frozen vegetable producers and employs 670 people throughout the year. Today, National Frozen Foods is committed to continued improvement through innovation within its own walls and at the industry level.

I am proud to acknowledge the part that National Frozen Foods Corporation has played in our economy in Washington State, as well as the positive impact that the frozen foods industry as a whole continues to have on the United States. In celebration of Frozen Foods Month, I applaud the employees and management of National Frozen Foods Corporation, and of the entire frozen food industry, for their hard work and contributions to our country.

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