FNS Documents & Resources

USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) supplies USDA Foods to disaster relief organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for congregate feeding or househole distribution.

The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you of a new and revised requirement for all Receiving Organizations (i.e., organizations that receive shipments of Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods, including Distributing Agencies, Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO), recipient agencies, processors, and warehouses). This memorandum replaces the previous FD-062 dated April 25, 2011 , and adjusts the maximum timeframe for entering shipment receipts in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that for three decades has helped supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including seniors, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance at no cost. This white paper explains the program and describes some of its key results.

Through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 20 13 (PL 11 3-2), States affected by Hurricane Sandy are provided with $5.7 million in supplemental funding for TEFAP. The assistance was initially offered to twelve States and the District of Columbia that were directly affected by Hurricane Sandy, based on major disaster declarations and eligibility for individual assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In total, nine States accepted at least some supplemental assistance; funding that was not accepted by certain States was reallocated proportionately to the remaining States. The attached worksheet shows the amounts that each State will receive as USDA Foods and administrative funds.

USDA distributes USDA Foods to food banks, soup kitchens, disaster feeding organizations, Indian Tribal Organizations, charitable institutions and other feeding organizations, helping families stretch their food budgets and ensuring that all Americans have healthy foods within reach.

On March 26, 2013, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013 was signed into law, which provides $49.401 million for TEFAP administrative funding through Sept. 30, 2013.

On Jan. 29, 201 3, President Barack Obama signed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act 2013, providing TEFAP with $6 million in supplemental funding. The Act gives the Secretary authority to provide these funds to the States affected by Hurricane Sandy without regard to the formula normally used to allocate TEFAP entitlement foods and administrative funding among the States. In addition, the Act also gives the Secretary authority to provide the supplemental funding as USDA Foods, administrative funds, or both. 

State agencies must exercise diligence to ensure that TEFAP food inventories are managed effectively, efficiently, and without waste. The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide state agencies with the direction and guidance necessary in maintaining proper inventory levels of USDA Foods for TEFAP, including the estimation of monthly utilization rates for new or bonus USDA Foods for which there are no historical usage records.