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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally. It is headed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who has served since February 24, 2021.
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices". The CCC is authorized to buy, sell, lend, make payments, and engage in other activities for the purpose of increasing production, stabilizing prices, assuring adequate supplies, and facilitating the efficient marketing of agricultural commodities.
The Agricultural Act of 1954 is a United States federal law that, among other provisions, authorized a Commodity Credit Corporation reserve for foreign and domestic relief.
In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world for more than 60 years. Approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food assistance. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government's largest provider of overseas food assistance. The food assistance programming is funded primarily through the Food for Peace Act. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance also receives International Disaster Assistance Funds through the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) that can be used in emergency settings.
In the United States, the farm bill is comprehensive omnibus bill that is the primary agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. Congress typically passes a new farm bill every five to six years.
The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 was the 4-year farm bill that adopted target prices and deficiency payments as a tool that would support farm income but reduce forfeitures to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) of surplus stocks. It reduced payment limitations to $20,000 for all program crops. The Act might be considered the first omnibus farm bill because it went beyond simply authorizing farm commodity programs. It authorized disaster payments and disaster reserve inventories; created the Rural Environmental Conservation Program; amended the Food Stamp Act of 1964, authorized the use of commodities for feeding low income mothers and young children (the origin of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program; and amended the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972.
The Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 was the 4-year omnibus farm bill that continued and modified commodity programs through 1985. It set specific target prices for 4 years, eliminated rice allotments and marketing quotas, lowered dairy supports, and made other changes affecting a wide range of USDA activities. The next year this farm bill was amended to freeze the dairy price support level and mandate loan rates and acreage reserve provisions for the 1983 crops. Again in 1984, amendments were adopted to freeze target prices, authorize paid land diversion for feed grains, upland cotton, and rice, and provide a wheat payment-in-kind program for 1984.
The Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 made major revisions to the United States' federal crop insurance program and provided emergency agricultural assistance. The crop insurance provisions significantly increased the program's government subsidy; improved coverage for farmers affected by multiple years of natural disasters; and authorized pilot insurance programs for livestock farmers and growers of other farm commodities that were not served by crop insurance, among many other provisions. The emergency provisions made available a total of $7.14 billion in emergency farm assistance, mostly in direct payments to growers of various commodities to compensate for low farm commodity prices.
The Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust (BEHT) is a strategic grain reserve held by the United States for the benefit of other countries. It can contain commodities and cash held in trust to supplement food aid made available under programs created by Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. The Trust can hold up to 4 million metric tons of wheat, corn, sorghum, and rice. Since 2008, the Trust has held no grain, and holds only cash.
In United States agricultural law, Commodity Assistance Program is term used by appropriators to refer to a variety of domestic programs receiving food in the form of USDA supplied commodities. The term was formalized for the first time in FY1996 appropriations law to refer to the consolidation for funding purposes of three commodity donation programs that are authorized under two separate statutes: the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 amended the original Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to authorize multi-year funding and commodity donations from excess Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) inventories of foodstuffs for food distribution by emergency feeding organizations serving the needy and homeless. It subsequently was amended in 1985, 1988, 1990, 1996 and 2002 under the 2002 farm bill. This is the Emergency Food Assistance and Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program.
The Emergency Food Assistance and Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program provides United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodities to emergency feeding organizations to help with the food needs of low-income populations. It also authorizes grants to states to help with the state and local costs of transporting, storing, and distributing the commodities to the appropriate local agencies and organizations.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a program that evolved out of surplus commodity donation efforts begun by the USDA in late 1981 to dispose of surplus foods held by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). This program was explicitly authorized by the Congress in 1983 when funding was provided to assist states with the costs involved in storing and distributing the commodities. The program originally was entitled the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program when authorized under the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983. The program was renamed to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in 1990.
The Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program was originally authorized under the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 to buy commodities for soup kitchens and food banks not participating in the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP). This program was consolidated with EFAP by an amendment to the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 that was enacted as part of the 1996 welfare reform law. Program authority was extended through FY2007 by the 2002 farm bill.
The Nutrition Program for the Elderly (NPE), authorized under Title III of the Older Americans Act, provides (1) basic grants to operate nutrition programs for the elderly, such as meals-on-wheels and congregate dining programs, and (2) additional cash payments or commodity assistance for each meal served. The basic grants are funded under annual appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services and distributed by formula. The additional per-meal cash or commodity assistance is funded under annual appropriations to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). While states may opt for either cash or commodity assistance, most choose per-meal cash payments.
The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (IFEP) is a food aid program authorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 which provides for the donation of U.S. agricultural commodities and associated financial and technical assistance to carry out preschool and school feeding programs in foreign countries. Maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs also are authorized under this program. It is named after former U.S. Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, who advocated in the U.S. Congress for its passage.
Market loss payments is a designation first used in the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999 to describe the $3.1 billion in emergency income support payments authorized for eligible grain, cotton, and dairy farmers. The Act stated that such funds were to compensate farmers for the loss of 1998 income caused by “regional economic dislocation, unilateral trade sanctions, and the failure of the government to pursue trade opportunities aggressively.” Similar economic emergency support payments for selected commodities were subsequently enacted in P.L. 106-78, in P.L. 106-224, in P.L. 106-387, and in P.L. 107-25. Market loss assistance to grain and cotton producers were distributed in parallel manner to the contract payments authorized by the Agricultural Market Transition Act.
The Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 amended the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to require the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make additional types of commodities available for the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), to improve the child nutrition and food stamp programs, and to provide other hunger relief.
The Food Stamp Act provided permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, which had been administratively implemented on a pilot basis in 1962. On August 31, 1964 it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was later replaced and completely rewritten and revised by the food stamp provisions of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, which eliminated the purchase requirement and simplified eligibility requirements. Amendments were made to this Act in 1981–82, 1984–85, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002 (most recently by Title IV of the 2002 farm bill.
The Education for Economic Security Act is a United States federal education law that was enacted in 1984. It provided funding for programs to support schools and teachers in the instruction of math and science, including grants, awards, and scholarships. The act funded teacher training programs and awarded schools and teachers that excelled in the instruction of math and science. The act also developed a program to combat asbestos in schools, fund magnet schools, and protect students from religious discrimination.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from Jasper Womach. Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
