Book excerpt: This document records the oral and written testimony given at a Congressional hearing on nutrition research and education as carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Witnesses included officials from the Department, professors and administrators from various university nutrition programs, and medical doctors. Testimony stressed the expanding role that nutrition is playing and should play in the improvement of the health of Americans. More nutrition research was advocated, as well as more use of such research on the local level, such as through the Cooperative Extension Service and training for local medical practitioners. Increasing nutrition knowledge and action by the public could substantially lower health care costs, and testimony supported Department of Agriculture programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that aim to prevent low birth weight babies. (KC)