Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Biden-Harris Administration is providing $2.7 billion to support American farmers, students who participate in school meal programs, and emergency food operations.
Through the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, the Department will provide nearly $1.3 billion for states to purchase foods to be distributed to schools for their meal programs and nearly $1 billion for states to order commodities from USDA vendors for emergency food providers. The investment is part of USDA’s broader efforts to make nutritious food grown by American producers more accessible for families and students.
“American agriculture has continued to be resilient in the face of significant and unpredictable challenges,” said Secretary Vilsack. “To help ease the burden of these challenges, USDA is taking action and providing additional support for producers and food program operators. Today’s comprehensive set of investments will help producers by increasing commodity purchases for schools and emergency food providers and supporting expanded domestic fertilizer capacity to lower costs. Addressing these challenges will better prepare USDA, American producers, and the customers we serve for the future.”
FOOD PURCHASES FOR SCHOOL MEALS
USDA is providing nearly $1.3 billion to states and territories to purchase domestic foods to be distributed to schools, bringing the total amount of additional commodity support for school meals to nearly $3.8 billion since December 2021. This additional funding is needed to address elevated food and labor costs that will continue to affect school meal programs into the 2023-2024 school year, when schools will lose the added, temporary financial support Congress had authorized for the 2022-2023 school year in the bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022.
COMMODITY PURCHASES FOR EMERGENCY FOOD PROVIDERS
To help support the families in America facing food insecurity, USDA is providing nearly $1 billion for commodity purchases from U.S. farmers to support the emergency food network. The nationwide expiration of the pandemic-related SNAP Emergency Allotments, which temporarily provided approximately $3 billion in additional benefits to SNAP participants each month, has left families without assistance they have relied on for nearly three years. This latest round of funding, in addition to the nearly $1 billion previously provided in September 2022, will allow states to order American-grown commodities from USDA for emergency food providers.
Source: USDA