Industry misses USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program is missed by fresh produce distributors everywhere, including in Maryland and Virginia.

From May 15, 2020, to April 30 this year, USDA contractors delivered 173.7 million boxes of fresh produce, milk, dairy and cooked meats to needy Americans across the country.

The program was phased out at the end of May by the Biden administration. Since then, the new administration upped its produce purchases in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), though not nearly approaching the level of fresh produce purchases in the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

Many produce operators wish the former food box program was still active.

“(The food box program) was a huge success for us and for the nonprofits and clients we worked with,” said Lolo Mengel, CEO of Jessup, Md.-based Coosemans DC.

“We would love for the program to continue as it benefited the farmers, the distributors and the clients of the nonprofits — a win-win-win!”

United Fresh take

The food box program came at the right time, Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association.

In fact, for the struggling foodservice sector in the spring of 2020, it could not have come at a better time, Guenther said.

The program made a long-term impact as an example of how the federal government and the industry can work together to provide fresh produce to those most in need, he said.

Guenther said the need for the program still exists, especially since there is so much uncertainty around the delta variant of COVID-19.

“We want to come back with for more vibrancy and success, but there is that fear out there,” he said. “In our view, it should be a program that’s around permanently; I think it’s proved its worth.”

The revival of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program is one of the main lobbying priorities for United Fresh, Guenther said.

“We continue to impress on the new administration, don’t just throw this out because of political whims, but really look at it as a long-term solution to help drive a new supply chain infrastructure within USDA,” he said.

Guenther said produce box purchases under the TEFAP program so far have not hit the “sweet spot” that the Farmers to Families Food Box program did, adding that United Fresh is urging the USDA to greatly expand the TEFAP program.

The program had only $20 million in funding in its first round, compared to more than $4 billion spent on the Farmers to Families program in 2020 alone.