How the Farm Bill Is Helping Reduce Hunger
The Farm Bill is the centerpiece federal legislation for food and farming, and it impacts access to nutritious food for the millions of people in America struggling with hunger. Feeding America works every day to support the protection and expansion of federal nutrition programs to ensure families do not go hungry.
We continue to work to protect and strengthen key federal nutrition programs. Some of our priority issues in the bill include:
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SNAP is a cornerstone federal program to help hardworking families during difficult times. Serving more than 43 million people in America, SNAP is the largest anti-hunger program in the United States.
View our SNAP factsheet here.
View our "The charitable sector can't solve hunger alone" flyer here.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
TEFAP is a means-tested federal nutrition program that purchases and distributes food to people in America with low-income through emergency food providers like food banks and in partnership with USDA. TEFAP helps food banks augment the other food they provide to families in need. TEFAP provided around 600 million meals of the 4 billion meals distributed by the Feeding America network last year.
View our TEFAP factsheet here.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
CSFP is a means-tested program for low-income seniors ages 60 and older. It provides nutritious food to help supplement their diet and it operates in all but one state. Local nonprofits are key anti-hunger partners in CSFP distribution; in 22 states Feeding America network members are the primary distributors for CSFP food.
View our CSFP factsheet here.
Between 25-40% of the food grown, processed and transported in the U.S. does not end up on a dinner plate. Feeding America is working hard to try and capture that food and help connect it to the people who need it the most. In one year, Feeding America rescues 3.5 billion pounds of food that might have otherwise gone to waste and helps distribute it to people in America facing hunger.
The Farm bill is reauthorized every four years, but the process often takes over a year. We need to help legislators understand the need so that they support a strong Farm Bill.