Re the government food stored in huge

[shraby]

storage facilities. Does the government still maintain them? I remember when Reagan was president and the food banks were hurting, the television news took the public on a tour of a storage facility that was in a huge cave complex. If the stores of food still exist, why isn't it being distributed to the destitute food banks?
At one time years ago, they gave out gov't peanut butter, cheese and other commodities to welfare recipients. Where is it now???

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Are you thinking of the USDA commodities program AKA government surplus food?

The commodities distribution program still exists but was scaled back dramatically once another USDA program, Food Stamps, was rolled out on the national level. Now the surplus commodities are distributed mostly to eligible school lunch programs and child nutrition programs. There may still be distributions at Indian reservations and to other groups -- I 'm not sure of the current status on that.

[KewlKat]

4. The program is alive and well

according to the link in my post below. I forgot about this program so I googled and found the information. It's also available for the elderly too so I'm going to see about getting my MIL on it. According to their qualifications, she's eligible and our state participates. Her income is around 4,000 a year and then she has to pay medical insurance which is nearly a fourth of her monthly income. The site also provides a list of the commodities they issue and it's really diverse.

[shraby]

5. That's the program Kewl. Good to hear it's alive

and well. Maybe they should extend it to the food banks if they haven't already. I didn't know they still gave food to the poor since the advent of the food stamps program. I'll check the link.

[KewlKat]

2. Here's some history on the program

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers several programs that distribute commodity foods, which are foods that the federal government has the legal authority to purchase and distribute in order to support farm prices. The first commodity distribution program began during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when it was known as the Needy Family Program. This was the main form of food assistance for low-income people in the United States until the Food Stamp Program was expanded in the early 1970s. The Needy Family Program distributed surplus agricultural commodities such as cheese, butter, and other items directly to low-income people. Today, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, administers the nation's commodity food distribution programs. The programs continue to improve the nutrition status of low-income people, while providing a means for using surplus agricultural commodities from U.S. farm programs.

The USDA purchases food and makes it available to state agencies and Indian tribal organizations, along with funds for administrative costs. The commodity foods provided to participants do not provide a complete diet, but are designed to supplement the nutritional needs of participants and may include canned fruit juice, canned fruits and vegetables, farina, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, nonfat dry milk, evaporated milk, egg mix, dry beans, peanut butter, canned meat, poultry or tuna, dehydrated potatoes, pasta, rice, cheese, butter, honey, and infant cereal and formula. Distribution sites make packages available on a monthly basis.

As of 2003, the program operates in thirty-two states and the District of Columbia. An average of more than 410,000 people participated in the program each month in 2002, including more than 337,000 elderly people and more than 73,000 women, infants, and children.


Here's the link on eligibility: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/programs/csfp/csfp_eligibility.htm

[Cleita]

3. I remember there being silos filled with surplus food that the government

bought from farmers who had produced too much to go to market, so the government would buy it so the farmer wouldn't go broke. Then it would be distributed to the poor and charities who took care of the poor. I suppose that today the surpluses are sold overseas so there isn't much extra food produced today like there was back then. I don't know if this was part of the programs you are talking about.

[shraby]

6. Maybe the government needs nudged to distribute

some of the surplus to the needy food banks. They sure could make good use of it. I just emailed my senator..Feingold about it. My representative is a useless, non-responding republican.