COVID-19 and the Case for a National Food Emergency Stockpile
gency expansion of federally-funded food insecurity programs was a critical step in helping food insecure individuals because it enabled expansion of the existing government food assistance infrastructure , as well as lessening the shock to the FAP network from the great increase in demand . Although the legislation was quickly enacted , the process to enroll a large number of new beneficiaries in these programs took time , resulting in long lines at FAPs and severely strained resources . Additionally , many of these programs excluded individuals due to economic , employment , or citizenship status , a gap that is often filled by FAPs .
USDA TEFAP Program
The Emergency Food Assistance Program ( TEFAP ) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them emergency food assistance at no cost ( Food and Nutrition Service , USDA , 2020 ). The USDA buys the food from domestic producers and then gives the food to each state ’ s distributing agency . Each state is allocated a specific amount of food based on residents below poverty level and the state ’ s unemployment numbers . The state distribution agency then allocates food to local organizations , such as food banks , to distribute to the local FAP network of food pantries , soup kitchens , faith-based , and other organizations serving the public .
USDA CFAP Program
An unprecedented and enormously successful effort by the federal government has been the USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program ( CFAP ). This $ 19 billion program provided $ 16 billion in direct payments to agriculture producers impacted by the pandemic and $ 3 billion to a USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program . The USDA partnered with distributors at the national , regional , and local levels that had been negatively impacted by closures of restaurants , hotels , and other food service businesses to purchase up to $ 3 billion in fresh fruit and vegetables , dairy , and meat products from domestic producers . The produce , dairy , and meat were then packaged by distributors into family-sized boxes and sent to local food banks , nonprofit partners , and government entities such as schools that were trying to meet their community ’ s increased demand for food . According to the USDA , receiving organizations had to demonstrate that they had the “ operational and financial capability to receive , store and distribute requested food items ” ( USDA , 2020a ).
While the CFAP program demonstrates a creative emergency initiative to feed individuals who are food insecure , it is not a long-term solution . The program was designed to both support mass feeding operations nationwide and to help producers and distributors remain financially stable as the pandemic disrupted their supply chains as spring and summer harvest seasons began . Although this one-off program initiative helped avoid a catastrophic shortage of food in the short-term ,
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