Roadrunner Food Bank and its national organization Feeding America, urge Congress to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill that bolsters the nation’s federal nutrition programs including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The farm bill is the nation’s centerpiece federal legislation for food and farming. It impacts access to nutritious food for people facing hunger across the country. Congress re-authorizes the farm bill approximately every five years and lawmakers are already working on its re-authorization for 2023.
TEFAP is a federal nutrition program that provides 35 percent or 12.2 million pounds of food for the food bank to distribute in all 33 New Mexico counties. It is a cornerstone program nationally for food banks and provides billions of meals to Americans facing hunger.
Through the program, the USDA purchases healthy foods – fruits, vegetables and other staples from US farmers, growers and producers. Food banks and other organizations partner with states to distribution the USDA food to families and individuals experiencing hunger.
SNAP is another federal nutrition program that helps people buy the food they need. People apply for the income-based program and must recertify regularly for the benefit. SNAP is the largest and most effective nutrition program. People approved for the program receive a monthly benefit via Electronic Benefits Transfer (EFT) cards. The debit cards have a pre-authorized amount and allow beneficiaries to purchase groceries at more than 250,000 authorized retailers across the US.