2023 farm bill
The Farm Bill is a large piece of federal legislation that is critical to the Great Plains Food Bank’s ability to serve needed food assistance to hungry children, seniors and families across North Dakota and Clay County, Minn.
Every five years, federal legislators work together to write and pass a new version of the Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill contains important nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).
We have a number of priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill that will make it easier for our hungry neighbors in need to get the food assistance they need:
- Double funding for TEFAP.
- Boost funding to help food banks offset the cost of storing and transporting more TEFAP products.
- Increase access, funding and eligibility for SNAP.
- Remove hurdles to SNAP eligibility and enrollment.
More than 75 percent of the current Farm Bill consists of nutrition programs.
nutrition programs in the farm bill
For each dollar the Great Plains Food Bank provides for someone in need, SNAP will provide nine meals. It is the most effective anti-hunger program in the United States.
Last year, the Great Plains Food Bank assisted individuals with a total of 780 applications to begin SNAP benefits. This work generated an estimated $632,153 in SNAP benefits for hungry children, seniors and families across North Dakota and provided more than 192,000 meals.
Across the U.S., SNAP provides monthly benefits for around 40 million people.
Find more information on SNAP and the Farm Bill from Feeding America HERE.
A critical program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) allows the purchasing by the USDA of grown and producer food throughout the country that is then given to organizations like the Great Plains Food Bank to be distributed to those in need.
In a single year, around 18 percent of the food distributed by the Great Plains Food Bank will come from government programs such as TEFAP.
Nationally, TEFAP helped the Feeding America network of food banks distribute over 1 billion meals during fiscal year 2022.
Find more information on TEFAP and the Farm Bill from Feeding America HERE.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides a food box to seniors across the nation with incomes less than 130 percent of the federal poverty line. The Great Plains Food Bank works with USDA in operating the program inside 26 different counties throughout North Dakota.
Read more about our work to feed hungry seniors in need HERE.
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) is a program of the USDA that provides food to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations or American Indian households residing in approved areas near reservations. Many households participate in the program as an alternative to SNAP.
Read more about FDPIR HERE.