America's Second Harvest Urges U.S. Congress to Raise TEFAP Commodity Levels and Offset Distribution Costs of Surplus Models

America's Second Harvest
Tuesday, 3 April 2001

TEFAP is a successful model of faith-based and community organizations working with USDA, farmers to feed hungry people

As reauthorization looms on the horizon for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Congress is reviewing the USDA domestic food distribution programs. In quantifiable benefits, TEFAP commodities – fruits and vegetables, grains and beans, meat, poultry and fish – helped America's Second Harvest Network provide nearly 200 million meals to low-income people last year.

In testimony today before the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, Doug O'Brien, Director of Public Policy and Research, America's Second Harvest, said TEFAP serves as an outlet for surplus farm products and with mandatory food purchases, American agriculture is supported, food banks and food-rescue organizations have adequate stocks of food, and most importantly, needy families don't go hungry.

"Hunger relief charities are often the last line of defense against hunger for the working poor, indigent families and legal immigrants whose access to many food assistance programs has been barred. In too many instances, we have been forced to turn people away or close our doors early because we lacked the resources to provide help," said O'Brien, whose testimony aired live on the Internet at www.agriculture.house.gov.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors reported last year that 13 percent of requests for emergency food assistance in cities surveyed went unmet due to a lack of food resources. America's Second Harvest estimates that its network would need to increase donations by nearly 100 percent to meet local hunger relief agency needs for food distribution. Despite the generally strong economy, low unemployment, and falling welfare and food stamp caseloads of the past few years, 31 million Americans are food insecure.

O'Brien offered the Subcommittee key recommendations to address the shortfalls in food resources the charitable sector has had to contend with and the rising usage of hunger relief services. Unlike regular TEFAP commodity purchases, surplus commodity purchases do not provide distribution or warehousing support funds. O'Brien urged the Subcommittee to consider providing a variable funding mechanism to offset distribution costs through the same Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) accounts which provide the commodity purchase funds.

Another reform O'Brien offered the Subcommittee for consideration was to raise the administrative grant reauthorization from $50 to $60 million a year. For more than a decade, Congress has annually appropriated no more than $45 million in administrative funding, despite a more than 400 percent increase in commodities and inflation. O'Brien noted how America's Second Harvest largest ever food donation of 400 million pounds of potatoes may go to waste because few states have the TEFAP funds to procure the donation and ship into their state for food assistance.

Lastly, O'Brien strongly urged the Subcommittee to consider raising the mandatory funding levels for TEFAP purchases. In fiscal year 2001, TEFAP mandatory food purchases were appropriated at $100 million. O'Brien also expressed strong support for Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Tony Hall (D-OH) re-introduction of the TEFAP expansion legislation and Representatives Clayton, Walsh and Hall's plans to introduce legislation on April 4, 2001 to expand much of the federal nutrition safety net including food stamps and TEFAP purchases.

For more information, or to contact America's Second Harvest, see their website at: www.secondharvest.org