USDA invests nearly $2 billion, leverages American agriculture to feed kids and families

The USDA has announced it will provide close to $2 billion in additional funding to food banks and school meal programs for purchasing American-grown foods. 

The additional support will help these organizations endure supply chain challenges and elevated food costs as they continue to fulfill their mission of providing nutritious foods to kids and families in need, according to a news release.

The USDA said the funds, provided through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, or CCC, will be used in three ways:

• Nearly $1 billion to purchase food for emergency food providers like food banks
• Nearly $500 million to expand the Local Food Purchase Assistance, or LFPA, cooperative agreement program, through which 49 states, 33 tribes, and four territories are already working to purchase local foods for their emergency food systems; and
• Nearly $500 million for schools across the country to purchase food for their lunch and breakfast programs, bringing the total CCC investment in school food since December 2021 to close to $2.5 billion, benefiting the roughly 30 million students who participate in school lunch and 15 million who participate in school breakfast each day.

“Funding these initiatives is paramount in the fight against hunger, and further demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA’s commitment to strengthen food and nutrition security,”  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “We must ensure Americans have access to safe, healthy, affordable food for longevity and optimal health.”

The investment is part of the Department’s broader commitment to strengthening the supply chain and making nutritious food more accessible for families.

“Food banks and schools are the backbone of our nutrition safety net, serving tens of millions of children and families,” Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, said in the release. “The Biden Administration understands that supply chain disruptions and high food costs have created uncertainties for these crucial partners, and we are committed to equipping them with the resources they need to keep communities fed, strong, and healthy.”

The Biden Administration has taken bold, broad-reaching actions to help mitigate the effects of inflation on American families and ensure they can keep healthy food on the table. Other recent USDA efforts to help families cope with high food costs and other challenges include:

• Purchasing up to $50 million in domestically produced rice: Earlier this week, USDA announced plans to purchase rice for distribution to a variety of domestic food assistance programs, including charitable institutions, to help address the worsened risk of hunger and food insecurity caused by disruptions in the domestic food supply chain resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Providing summertime child food benefits: USDA is providing the families of nearly 32 million children with approximately $391 per child for summer 2022, with higher amounts in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories. These benefits through the Summer P-EBT program are helping families cover food costs.
• Offering broad support for school meals: In addition to providing schools with additional funds to purchase food, USDA launched a school meals webpage for families with information about applying for free and reduced-price school meals; encouraged states to maximize their resources for serving more kids through school meals; provided schools and childcare centers with additional temporary reimbursements and other flexibilities; and more.
• Increasing WIC purchasing power: USDA extended the WIC cash-value benefit increase through the end of this fiscal year so WIC families can buy and consume more fruits and vegetables to support their overall health.
• Bolstering food banks: On top of the CCC funds announced today, USDA continues to provide significant funding for food banks and pantries to help them meet increasing needs.
• Strengthening connections and food access across local and regional food systems: In addition to the funds announced today, USDA has provided $400 million for local purchasing through LFPA and $200 million to help schools procure local products through the Local Food for Schools cooperative agreement program.
• Supporting a food system that is equitable, resilient, and fair. These efforts build on USDA’s generational investment to transform our food system in support of more and better markets for both consumers and producers. Additional details on this broader effort are available at https://www.usda.gov/build-back-better.