The Food Bank’s Public Policy Platform
Across the 24 counties Feeding the Gulf Coast serves, nearly 350,400 people face hunger. Feeding the Gulf Coast works every day through a network of community partners to provide food to people in need. However, we know that to truly address the root cause of hunger, we must strengthen food assistance programs and invest in anti-hunger policies to help ensure no one goes hungry.
Feeding the Gulf Coast operates several Federal Nutrition Programs that help us efficiently use available means to fight hunger. These programs are critical in our ability to help expand our community partners’ capacities to serve their communities. Therefore, the food bank works at the federal, state, and local levels to amplify voices and engage key representatives in driving change and strengthening policies that create systemic progress in ending hunger.
How the Farm Bill Helps Reduce Hunger
The farm bill is an omnibus, multiyear law that governs an array of agricultural and food programs. It provides an opportunity for policymakers to comprehensively and periodically address agricultural and food issues. In addition to developing and enacting farm legislation, Congress is involved in overseeing its implementation. The farm bill is typically renewed every five (5) years. The 2018 Farm Bill has been extend through FY2024. Feeding the Gulf Coast operates three (3) nutrition programs included through the farm bill: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). These programs are critical to the food bank’s ability to reach neighbors facing hunger along the central Gulf Coast.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Our SNAP Outreach team continues to see an increase in the number of applicants served. This program has been a lifeline for many people seeking food assistance for the first time. Our team assisted in the submission of 9,000 applications last year.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP): Every month, CSFP equips the food bank to combat senior hunger by providing monthly food boxes of nutritious staples to more than 3,000 low-income seniors, aged 60 and older. CSFP helps to combat the poor health conditions often found in seniors who are experiencing food insecurity.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP): Critical to our ability to provide emergency food assistance along the Gulf Coast, the TEFAP program allowed us to distribute more than 7 million pounds through contact-free drive-thru distributions and traditional pantry distributions with approved partners last year.
FARM BILL PRIORITIES:
- Strengthen TEFAP funding
- Reauthorize and streamline reporting for CSFP
- Increase funding and streamline TEFAP Farm to Food Bank Program
- Strengthen SNAP Benefits
- Simplify and streamline SNAP eligibility and enrollment processes
- Strengthen efforts to support employment
You can be an advocate for the passing of a strong farm bill by taking the pledge to be a voice for those in need by signing up to become an advocate!