The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act encourages the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations for distribution to needy individuals by giving the Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act the full force and effect of law. The act provides limited liability protection, both civil and criminal, for those who donate and distribute food and groceries. This law:
o Protects you from liability when you donate to a non-profit organization,
o Protects you from civil and criminal liability should the product donated in good faith later cause harm to the recipient, and
o Standardizes donor liability exposure.
The Act protects backyard gardeners, farmers, gleaners, restaurants, retail grocers and manufacturers, caterers, food banks, nonprofit food distributors, food trucks, school food authorities and institutions of higher education.
However, kitchens that create meals from donated food and then sell the meals at extremely low prices in underserved neighborhoods are not covered. For a donation to be covered by the act, the ultimate recipients of the food or grocery items must not be required to give anything of value.
The act expressly covers donations by food banks and nonprofit food distributors. The following are classified as “Food Banks, Food Pantries (K31)” and as such, are covered by the Act:
o Capital Area Food Bank
o Celestial Manna
o Manna Food Center
o Maryland Food Bank
o Nourish Now
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act preempts state “Good Samaritan” statutes that provide less protection from civil and criminal liability arising from food donated in good faith for distribution to the needy than the Act provides.
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RESOURCES (accessed 03/30/2021)
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
Public Law 104–210, 104th Congress, October 1, 1996
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-104publ210/pdf/PLAW-104publ210.pdf
42 U.S. Code § 1791 – Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
Cornell Law School, LII > U.S. Code > Title 42 > CHAPTER 13A > § 1791
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1791
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
October 1, 1996
https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/partners/become-a-product-partner/food-partners
Good Samaritan Act Provides Liability Protection For Food Donations
March 9, 2021
https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/08/13/good-samaritan-act-provides-liability-protection-food-donations
Preemptive Effect of the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
DAWN E. JOHNSEN, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel
March 10, 1997
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1997/03/31/op-olc-v021-p0055_0.pdf
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David Robert Lambert 