MCC Washington Memo

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, otherwise known as the Farm Bill, is a large piece of legislation that must be renewed by Congress every five years. The most recent Farm Bill became law on June 18, 2008, when both chambers of Congress voted to override a presidential veto.

The Farm Bill is a wide ranging bill that also contains guidance for conservation, trade, energy and nutrition programs in the United States.

How does the 2008 Farm Bill affect domestic hunger programs?

1. The Farm Bill allocates $10.364 billion for nutrition programs in the United States.
2. This includes an additional $7.8 billion for the food stamp program. The food stamp program is the largest single program in the Farm Bill. The food stamp program has been in operation since 1939, providing access to food for low income families. The USDA estimates that the food stamp program provides benefits to approximately 26 million people in the United States each month.
3. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) received an additional $1.6 billion in funding. TEFAP provides food to state distributing agencies such as food banks who then distribute the food to local agencies such as soup kitchens or local food banks. TEFAP first began in 1981 to distribute food commodities to local households in need of emergency food assistance.
4. The 2008 Farm Bill also expanded the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to receive an additional $9.9 million. This program provides free snacks of fresh fruit and vegetables to children in elementary school.
5. Arelated provision in the bill encourages the provision of whole grain foods in school lunch programs. 
6. The Farm Bill specifically encourages and directs USDA to consider the advantages of locally grown food when it is procuring food items for other programs.
7. An additional $5 million will be added to a program which allows low-income senior citizens to purchase food at farmers’markets and community supported agriculture projects.

Emily Welty served as an intern in the MCC Washington Office this past summer.