The Emergency Food Assistance Program

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low-income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. FNS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), administers TEFAP at the federal level; and all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam administer the program at the state level.

Through TEFAP, USDA purchases a variety of nutritious, high-quality USDA Foods, and makes those foods available to state distributing agencies. The amount of food each state agency receives is based on the number of unemployed persons and the number of people living below the poverty level in the state/territory. State agencies provide the food to local agencies that they have selected, usually food banks, which distribute the food to local organizations that directly serve the public, such as soup kitchens and food pantries. State agencies also provide the food to other types of local organizations, such as community action agencies, which distribute the foods directly to individuals. These local organizations distribute USDA Foods to eligible recipients for household consumption or use them to prepare and serve meals.

State agencies also receive administrative funds through TEFAP to support the storage and distribution of USDA Foods. These funds must, in part, be passed down to local agencies.

The program is authorized by The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 and The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Federal TEFAP regulations can be found at 7 CFR Parts 250 and 251.