# The Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023

This bill expands and extends federal programs that provide food to people in need, particularly focusing on getting more fresh produce and agricultural products to emergency food assistance programs. The main change is that it pumps more money into these programs and extends them through 2028 instead of letting them expire in 2023 or 2024. Essentially, it's saying the government will continue investing in feeding Americans who rely on emergency food assistance for longer than previously planned.

The bill increases funding in several specific ways. It dedicates $500 million per year from 2024 through 2028 to purchase food commodities for emergency food assistance programs—money that goes directly to buying agricultural products. It also doubles the storage and distribution budget from $100 million to $200 million, which helps food banks and other organizations actually store and get food to people who need it. Additionally, it extends infrastructure grants through 2028, allowing food assistance organizations to continue improving their facilities and systems.

A particularly important part of the bill addresses remote areas like Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which face unique challenges getting food delivered. These geographically isolated areas can now work with the federal government to find alternative ways to receive food, including ordering through the military's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program or receiving cash to buy locally grown food instead. The bill also changes how the government buys fresh produce—instead of always picking the cheapest option, it can now consider factors like product variety and how far the food has to travel, which could support local farmers and provide better nutrition.

For everyday people, this means food banks and emergency assistance programs will have more resources and more flexibility to serve their communities through 2028. People relying on emergency food assistance should see more consistent availability of food, including fresh produce, and those in remote areas should face fewer barriers to receiving help.

Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023

Salinas, Andrea

Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023This&nbsp;bill reauthorizes The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP),&nbsp;increases funding for the program,&nbsp;and provides additional delivery options for geographically isolated states (i.e., Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam).TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Through TEFAP, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases a variety of commodities and makes those food products (e.g., canned, frozen, dried, and fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy, and whole-grain and enriched grain products) available to state distributing agencies.The bill increases funding for purchasing commodities under&nbsp;the program.Further, the bill directs USDA to coordinate with geographically isolated states to (1) establish alternative delivery options for allocated commodities, and (2) allow for the states to order commodities through the&nbsp;USDA Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.&nbsp;USDA may also provide geographically isolated states the ability to directly purchase domestically grown food in lieu of receiving a portion of the commodities. Under this option, USDA may distribute as cash&nbsp;to the state up to 20% of the cash value of the commodities that are allocated to the state under TEFAP.&nbsp;Further, USDA may consider additional factors beyond lowest price&nbsp;in determining winning bids for contracts for fresh produce packages&nbsp;(including product variety and transportation distance).&nbsp;