Emergency Food Assistance Program (Food Commodities)

The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service allocates USDA Foods to state agencies under the Emergency Food Assistance Program (Food Commodities), CFDA 10.569, with the most recent grant award dated October 1, 2020.

This program funds the distribution of USDA Foods to low-income and needy individuals, including persons who are homeless, unemployed, underemployed, or receiving public assistance. State-designated distributing agencies receive food allocations and pass them to eligible recipient agencies—food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and faith-based organizations—which provide both packaged foods for home consumption and prepared meals at service sites. State agencies establish income-based eligibility criteria; individuals receiving home consumption foods are recertified periodically, while persons receiving prepared meals are presumed eligible. USDA Foods are allocated among states via a legislatively-mandated formula weighting each state's relative share of the national poverty population (60 percent) and unemployed persons (40 percent).

All funding flows through ongoing federal-state agreements that are amended as necessary. The program has awarded 1,177 grants totaling $761.9 million in combined federal dollars obligated since 2000. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service is the sole funding source. All awards are Formula Grants. Recent award activity shows 16 grants in 2020, 3 in 2019, and 2 in 2018; awards vary widely in magnitude. Representative recent awards include Formula Grant 207CACA5Y8613 for $822,857 (California, May 2020), Formula Grant 206TX818Y8613 for $615,786 (Texas, May 2020), and Formula Grant 185FL450Y4503 for $2 million (Florida, October 2017). No recent grant opportunities are posted. This is a state-administered, formula-driven program with no open solicitation cycle; eligibility is restricted to state agencies designated by governors or state executives as distributing agencies.