In 1939, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace consolidated a number of bureaus and programs to create a single agency to carry out a sweeping mission. The new Agricultural Marketing Service was charged with facilitating the efficient, fair marketing of U.S. agricultural products, including food, fiber, and specialty crops. In 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the realignment of a number of offices within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administers programs that create domestic and international marketing opportunities for U.S. producers of food, fiber, and specialty crops. AMS also provides the agriculture industry with valuable services to ensure the quality and availability of wholesome food for consumers across the country.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including elderly people, by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Through TEFAP, the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchases a variety of nutritious, high-quality USDA Foods, and makes those foods available to State Distributing Agencies.
TEFAP foods include dairy products, grain & oilseed products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, beef, bison, lamb, pork, poultry, egg products, fish, and seafood.
USDA makes commodity foods available to States for distribution to low-income people through emergency food providers. USDA also provides States with funding to assist with a small amount the storage and distribution costs for TEFAP commodities. The amount of food each State receives out of the total amount of food provided is based on the number of unemployed persons and the number of people with incomes below the poverty level in the State.
TEFAP is a means-tested federal program that provides food commodities at no cost to Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through food providers like emergency food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens and shelters. Here in the DC region, the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) participates in TEFAP. In Montgomery County, Maryland, Manna Food Center is an authorized distributor of TEFAP food obtained from CAFB. In the DC region, not just Montgomery County, Celestial Manna is a partner of CAFB and will be applying to become a TEFAP-authorized agency.
Food banks such as CAFB, combine TEFAP commodities and storage and distribution funding with private donations of food and funds, infrastructure, and manpower to leverage the program far beyond its budgeted amount. In this way, TEFAP and the emergency food system exemplify an optimum model of public-private partnership.
In summary, TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. USDA provides 100% American-grown USDA Foods and administrative funds to States to operate The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
REFERENCES (accessed 05/10/2020)
https://www.feedingamerica.org/take-action/advocate/federal-hunger-relief-programs/the-emergency-food-assistance-program
https://www.ams.usda.gov/about-ams
https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/AMS_Fact_Sheet_2019.pdf
https://www.ams.usda.gov/programs-offices/ams-overview
https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/becoming-approved
https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/solicitations
https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/emergency-food-assistance-program
https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/tefap-fact-sheet
David Robert Lambert 
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