The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is one of the
lesser known but important parts of our safety net. In fact, I
knew virtually nothing about it until I started working on this
posting. Thanks to the ‘net, I’ve learned how something I’ve
long opposed–agricultural price supports–is linked to something
I deeply care about–ensuring that poor people have enough to
eat. Organizations representing these seemingly disparate
interests have come together because TEFAP urgently needs
additional funds. Here’s the story. Under TEFAP, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture distributes food commodities to
states, which then distribute them to food banks and/or directly
to emergency food providers like soup kitchens and pantries.
Feeding America, which networks food banks across the country,
says that TEFAP provides a steady stream of foods to the
banks–often the most nutritious foods they distribute to hungry
people. USDA purchases some of the commodities with an annual
appropriation that’s linked to the costs of the