Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 118th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

D SalinasSponsor

56 cosponsors · 56 D

2 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

This bill reauthorizes The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), increases funding for the program, 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).

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Nov 2, 2023

Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023

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 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 USDA Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

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 to the state up to 20% of the cash value of the commodities that are allocated to the state under TEFAP.

Further, USDA may consider additional factors beyond lowest price in determining winning bids for contracts for fresh produce packages (including product variety and transportation distance).

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Farmers Feeding America Act of 2023

Latest action (Mar 1, 2024): Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture.

Policy area: Agriculture and Food · Origin: House · Introduced: Nov 2, 2023

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.