Food Distribution
More than 200 people stopped by Riverside Drive on Thursday for the Aroostook Agency on Aging and Catholic Charities monthly commodity food distribution in March. (Melissa Lizotte | The Star-Herald)
More than 200 people stopped by Riverside Drive on Thursday for the Aroostook Agency on Aging and Catholic Charities monthly commodity food distribution in March. (Melissa Lizotte | The Star-Herald)
Food box distributions planned in May across Aroostook County Contributed • April 28, 2021 The Aroostook Agency on Aging announces its upcoming commodity food box distributions for May.
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The Aroostook Agency on Aging announces its upcoming commodity food box distributions for May.
-USDA
WASHINGTON Participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children may soon see a temporary increase to their benefits for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. With $490 million provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, USDA has offered states, tribal nations and territories the option of boosting the cash-value voucher benefit by more than three times the current amount for up to four months to provide additional relief during this difficult time.
“To more effectively promote heathier eating patterns, we need to promote nutrition security alongside food security to ensure all people at all times have access to nutritious foods and beverages that meet their nutritional needs for an active and healthy life,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Nowhere is nutrition security more important than in our WIC program to support mothers and young children.”
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04/26/2021 10:00 AM EDT
Editor’s Note: Weekly Agriculture is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro’s daily Agriculture policy newsletter, Morning Agriculture. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. (
Pierre, SD, USA / DRGNews
Apr 26, 2021 7:32 AM
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is increasing food assistance to low-income seniors – a population that has been especially hard-hit by the pandemic – by providing nearly $37 million in additional support to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
States and Tribal nations will receive the new funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act to serve additional seniors, in addition to up to $2.6 million in administrative funds from a previous COVID relief bill.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the hunger crisis in America, but help is on the way,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “By expanding the reach of CSFP and providing additional support to the states and tribes that administer the program, USDA is helping ensure that no senior has to worry where their next meal will come from.”
USDA’s temporary Farmers to Families Food Box program will end after its expiration at the end of May when the funding will sunset for the food response program crafted immediately following the pandemic’s onset in the spring of 2020.
Through the program, USDA contractors delivered 157,152,030 of fresh produce, milk, dairy and cooked meats through the food boxes. The agency spent $4 billion on the food box program in 2020.
“The food box program was designed and implemented as a temporary effort to respond to market disruption caused by a global pandemic. While it did help respond to severe market disruption caused by the collapse of food service in the early stages of the pandemic, it had a number of significant challenges along the way,” according to a USDA spokesperson.