What is The Emergency Food Assistance Program?

TEFAP provides food assistance to needy Americans through the distribution of USDA commodities. Under TEFAP, commodity foods are made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to states for distribution to households for use in preparing meals for home consumption, or to organizations that prepare and provide meals for needy people. Foods are distributed free, but recipients of food for home use must meet program eligibility criteria set by the states.

TEFAP is administered at the Federal level by the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, formerly known as the Food and Consumer Service. State agencies receive the food and supervise overall distribution, but local agencies -- usually food banks, shelters, and soup kitchens -- are designated by the states to distribute the food.

TEFAP provides food regularly for needy households, and is a separate program from USDA's disaster assistance commodity food program, which provides food for mass feeding and household use of victims of natural disasters.

Who is eligible to get food?

Each state sets criteria for determining what households are eligible to participate in TEFAP. Each state can adjust the income criteria based on the level of need in order to ensure that assistance is provided only to those most in need. States also designate local agencies to handle food distribution.

How do TEFAP foods reach recipients?

USDA buys the food, processes and packages it, and ships it to the states. Each state, in turn, works out details of administration and distribution. Each state selects local emergency feeding organizations to distribute the commodities.

When and why did TEFAP start?

TEFAP was first authorized as the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program in 1981 to distribute surplus commodities to households. The name was changed to The Emergency Food Assistance Program under the 1990 farm bill. The program was designed help reduce federal food inventories and storage costs while assisting the needy. Food distribution began in 1982. In the program's early years, there was ample surplus food for distribution. During the peak years of 1984 and 1985, more than $1 billion worth of surplus food was distributed each year.

When TEFAP began, the federal government held large stocks of surplus foods, especially cheese, that had been purchased by USDA as part of its surplus removal and price stabilization activities. Distribution through TEFAP and other domestic food assistance programs depleted stocks of many surplus foods, particularly cheese, non-fat dry milk and flour. By 1988, most foods held in surplus stocks had been distributed.

At the same time, USDA has acquired less surplus food because of modifications in the agricultural price-support programs. Congress lowered price supports in order to bring farm production more in line with consumption.

Because of the depletion of surplus stocks, Congress in the 1988 Hunger Prevention Act required the Secretary of Agriculture not only to distribute surplus foods, but also to purchase additional food for further distribution to needy households.

What types of food are available through TEFAP?

Available foods vary depending on market conditions. Typically, items such as canned and dried fruits, canned vegetables, canned meats, peanut butter, and pasta products are available. Quantities of particular foods vary, and states may rotate distribution of some foods from area to area so that each county receives its fair share at some time during the year.