TEFAP Alliance Blog

May 2003

In This Issue:
• USDA Requests Status Quo for TEFAP Funding
• Surplus Purchases Announced
• Hunger Awareness Day Focuses on Children

USDA Requests Status Quo for TEFAP Funding
Bush Administration officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have recommended level funding for TEFAP food and administrative expenses in fiscal year 2004. In May 22 testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies, USDA Under Secretary Eric Bost stated that the President’s “budget requests $140 million for food in this important program.”
Although the 2002 Farm Bill increased the authorization level to $60 million for TEFAP storage and distribution costs, the Administration proposes a continuation of this year’s $50 million funding level. The budget figures for food and distribution will likely be approved as proposed, though authority may again be included for the USDA Secretary to transfer up to $10 million from food to distribution costs.
Though TEFAP funding would not increase, USDA has pledged to continue making bonus purchases to augment entitlement foods for the program. “Secretary Veneman has committed to ensuring the continuing flow of surplus commodities to TEFAP,” Bost noted. “Such donations significantly increase the amount of commodities that are available to the food bank community from federal sources.”
Surplus Purchases Announced
In keeping its promise to supply large amounts of food for TEFAP, USDA officials earlier this month announced several large buys. Purchases will include 8.7 million pounds of fresh apples, 28.5 million pounds of canned and frozen apricots, seven million pounds of frozen asparagus, and $15 million worth of canned salmon. A total of $400 million in entitlement and surplus foods are expected to be purchased for TEFAP in fiscal year 2003.
Hunger Awareness Day Focuses on Children
June 5, 2003 has been declared National Hunger Awareness Day by the country’s food banks. Childhood hunger is this year’s theme.
The national food bank network, America’s Second Harvest, is sponsoring the event. They report that, “Childhood hunger is an unseen epidemic in our nation. And it grows even more acute during the summer, when literally millions of children don’t have access to the school lunches they normally depend upon.”
Second Harvest members are seeking to make ending hunger a priority, and are urging people in communities across the country to gather together to take action. “If we all raise our voice on the same day America will listen,” they say.
The day’s activities will vary by food bank and locality. Fresno, California will have “Leaders Serving Lunch,” where local, state, and federal elected officials will be packing and distributing food bags. The San Antonio Food Bank in Texas will host a Member Agency Workshop and Conference. Food drives will be held at all Publix Supermarkets in Birmingham, Alabama, and there will be a neighborhood picnic in Cleveland, Ohio.
For more information about Hunger Awareness Day events and promotions, visit http://www.hungerday.org.
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WASHINGTON UPDATE is published for the TEFAP Alliance by Weinberg & Vauthier Consulting, 419 West Broad Street, Suite 204, Falls Church, VA 22046; Telephone: 703-532-5700; Fax: 703-532-5780; email: zyweinberg@earthlink.net.

Washington Update
Thursday, May 29, 2003

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