The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it will provide nearly $2 billion in additional funding to food banks and school meal programs for purchasing American-grown foods. This extra funding aims to help these organizations withstand supply chain challenges and increased food costs, ensuring the continued provision of nutritious foods to children and families in need.

The funding, sourced from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), will be allocated in three ways:

1. Nearly $1 billion will be used to buy food for emergency food providers, including food banks.
2. Almost $500 million will be allocated to expand the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program, which already enables 49 states, 33 tribes, and four territories to buy local foods for their emergency food systems.
3. Approximately $500 million will go towards enabling schools nationwide to purchase food for their breakfast and lunch programs. This brings the total CCC investment in school food since December 2021 to nearly $2.5 billion, benefitting about 30 million students who participate in school lunches and 15 million who take part in school breakfast each day.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack emphasized the importance of these initiatives in combating hunger, highlighting the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to strengthening food and nutrition security.

Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, stressed the key role of food banks and schools in maintaining the nation’s nutrition safety net, serving millions of children and families. Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs, highlighted the importance of these programs in connecting American producers with food banks and schools, thereby supporting rural economies and aiding those most in need.