Federal Grant Award Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service awarded the Texas Department of Agriculture $7.8 million under the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Administrative Costs program (CFDA 10.568), effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. This formula grant provides funding to support the administrative, storage, and distribution costs necessary to operate TEFAP and deliver USDA Foods to low-income populations across Texas. The funding allocation is determined by a congressionally mandated formula that weighs each state's proportional share of persons living below the poverty level (60 percent) and unemployed individuals (40 percent).

Under this award, the Texas Department of Agriculture is required to make a minimum of 40 percent of the granted administrative funds available to emergency feeding organizations such as food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens, either through direct grants or by expending funds on their behalf. Funds are distributed electronically on an as-needed basis for actual expenditures, with any unused allocations returned to the federal government for reallocation according to established formula criteria. The agency maintains ongoing federal-state agreements with participating local organizations and is subject to standard record retention requirements of three years following the close of the fiscal year.