1000 General Information

In December 1981 the United States Congress, with the recommendation of President Reagan, affirmed the United States Department of Agriculture's authority to donate surplus food products directly to needy persons for home consumption. This was to be accomplished by distribution of donated commodities through non-profit organizations and food banks. Such commodity donations to needy persons had previously been discontinued after June 30, 1974 when the Food Stamp Program was implemented on a nationwide basis.

The Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983, which established the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), was passed (Public Law 98-8 Title II) in March 1983. Under the provisions of this law, states were allowed to enter into an agreement with the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the implementation of TEFAP. The term of this Act ended September 30, 1983. TEFAP was extended and amended under Public Law 98-92 to continue through September 30, 1985. The Food Security Act of 1985, Public Law 99-198, further extended TEFAP through September 30, 1987. The Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, Public Law 100-77, re-authorized the program to be extended through September 30, 1988. The Hunger Prevention Act of 1988, Public Law 100-435, re-authorized the program for a two year period to be extended through September 30, 1990. The Mickey Leland Memorial Domestic Hunger Relief Act (Public Law 101 - 624) re-authorized the program in 1990 for a five year period which will extend it through September 30, 1995. The Act also changed the name of the program from the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Scope and Purpose

The Emergency Food Assistance Program has a twofold purpose. First, it helps to improve the diet of persons in need of food assistance. TEFAP gives needy Americans, including low-income and unemployed persons, USDA-donated foods for household use. The foods are free; recipients must meet certain eligibility criteria. Second, it helps strengthen the agricultural market for food that American farmers produce. To aid farmers, USDA buys food under price-support and surplus-removal legislation and makes this food available to States. USDA pays for the initial processing and packaging of the food and for transporting it to designated points within each State. State distributing agencies are then responsible for storing the food, transporting it throughout the State, and distributing it at the local level through appropriate non-profit organizations to the recipients.

1100 Commodity Availability

Food distributed by TEFAP has been declared surplus after certain other commitments have been met by USDA. The type of products available vary from time to time depending on the agricultural market. During the life span of TEFAP, these products may include canned fruits, vegetables, and meat, fruit juice, nonfat dry milk, dried fruit, nuts, rice and other products. USDA provides these products in package sizes that are suitable for household use.

1101 USDA Allocations to States - Allocation of TEFAP commodities is made to states on the basis of the historical patterns of utilization of USDA-donated commodities, number of unemployed persons, number of households with incomes below the poverty level, and the capacity and willingness to utilize commodities without waste.

1102 State Allocations to Areas - For TEFAP implementation and allocation purposes, Kansas has been divided into fifteen distribution areas. Each distribution area consists of one or more counties and every county in Kansas is located in one of these areas. Each distribution area is managed by a Regional Director. See Section 8000, Exhibit A-1 and A-2, for details.

Allocation of commodities to distribution areas is based on the following:

1102.1 Allocation of TEFAP commodities is made to a distribution area on the basis of the area's percentage of the state population with incomes at or below poverty level and the area's capacity and willingness to utilize the commodities without waste.

1102.2 All of the TEFAP commodities are allocated to Kansas in very limited quantities. Each distribution area is included on a rotation list and limited products are distributed as they become available. Regional Directors may choose not to receive certain products because of the lack of proper resources to care for the products or the lack of interest expressed by participating organizations and recipients in receiving the products.