Senator Sherrod Brown Calls for More USDA Support of Food Banks

Jeff Hillard, a College of Mount St. Joseph English teacher and editor of RED! Magazine , just delivered supplies to the Landmark Church's Food Pantry in Cincinnati, Ohio. With tough times hitting the region, pantries like this one are in need of donations perhaps more than ever.

In the case of Landmark Church, Hillard explains the pantry hopes to receive regular supplies from the Freestore Foodbank , the Cincinnati area's largest emergency food provider. The need is great with food insecurity rates in Cincinnati and throughout Ohio at about 17 percent, according to Feeding America . That is an alarmingly large percent of the population struggling to get food on the shelves.

But will there be enough food for the Freestore and other emergency foodbanks to keep up with the demand?

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and several colleagues just wrote to Tom Vilsack, the head of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, urging him to purchase Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) supplies which would be distributed to food banks in Ohio and throughout the United States.

TEFAP is a federal program which sends food supplies to states based on their unemployment and poverty levels. Emergency food banks around the country depend on TEFAP supplies. Donations from individuals alone to food banks cannot meet the demand.

Brown says, "TEFAP helps fill the gaps for many Ohio families by providing nutritious food-in many instances through local food pantries and banks. But without additional support from the USDA, Ohio food banks could face bare shelves as a result of rising demand. By using existing funding, USDA can purchase additional food for the TEFAP program and help ensure that fewer Ohio families have to go hungry this year."

A press release from Senator Brown's office warned that unless TEFAP comes through, "Many food banks in Ohio and across the country could face the prospect of seriously depleted food stocks in the coming months."

TEFAP is also facing funding cuts in the latest federal budget proposal put forward by the House of Representatives. It's a situation that will harm food banks in Ohio and throughout the country.

Stacy Wong of the Greater Boston Food Bank says "The reduction in TEFAP food is worrisome to the nation's food banks. A 20 percent reduction in TEFAP for The Greater Boston Food Bank would come to almost 1.7 million pounds of food, or the equivalent of nearly 1.3 million meals." The Food Bank urges Congress not to cut TEFAP stating "While we understand the need to balance the budget, we do not think forcing low-income Americans to bear the burden is the way to do it."

Food aid programs are relatively inexpensive. You cannot solve the federal deficit by cutting food aid for the hungry and poor. Yet food aid, both domestic and international, is one of the areas where lawmakers routinely look to cut. You can contact your representatives to voice your opinion at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov .