The Farm Bill

Fast Facts

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)

TEFAP moves food from farms to food banks to individuals and families facing hunger.

• Between July 2021 and June 2022, the Feeding America food bank network received 1.24 billion pounds of food from TEFAP, providing over 1 billion meals to people facing hunger. This included food provided through TEFAP entitlement food purchases, USDA bonus commodity food purchases made to support U.S. commodity producers and distributed through TEFAP, and short-term COVID recovery funding for additional TEFAP food purchases.
• The amount of food the Feeding America network received from TEFAP decreased by more than half between Feeding America fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, straining food bank supplies during a period of elevated demand.
• In 2020, Feeding America network food banks distributed TEFAP foods in 96% of rural counties, providing over 465 million pounds of food to neighbors facing hunger in rural communities.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

SNAP is the cornerstone of the nation’s federal nutrition programs, providing approximately 40 million people in the U.S. with monthly food benefits via an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.ⁱⁱⁱ

• In federal fiscal year 2019:
  • 43% of SNAP participants were children;
  • 32% were non-disabled adults under 60;
  • 16% were 60 or older; and
  • 10% were adults with disabilities under 60.^iv

• Most people receiving SNAP benefits who can work, do work. In federal fiscal year 2019:
  • Nearly one-third (29%) of households receiving SNAP benefits had income from earnings.
  • More than half (53%) of households with children had earned income.
  • 6% of households that included adults over 60 had earned income.
  • 29% of childless households with adults ages 18-49 without disabilities had earned income.^v
• Every dollar of SNAP benefits spent helps generate $1.50 in economic activity during periods of economic decline.^vi
• As the percentage of U.S. households with adults over 60 has increased, so has the number of households that receive benefits from Social Security.^vii    Many older adults turn to SNAP to help ensure they can afford food and other necessities while living on fixed Social Security budgets. In federal fiscal year 2019, 31% of households receiving SNAP benefits also received income from Social Security.^viii

Additional Programs and Initiatives

• Around 661,000 people ages 60 and older with low incomes received nutritious food boxes through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) in 2021.^ix CSFP helps address diet-related health conditions often experienced by older adults who are facing food insecurity and who are at risk of hunger.
• In 2019, an estimated 35% of all food in the U.S.—80 million tons—went unsold or uneaten.^x Feeding America network food banks partner with growers, producers, food companies, retailers and restaurants to ensure this nutritious food is connected to people facing hunger, and programs authorized in the farm bill help make this happen.