USDA asks, is it time for Food Box 2.0?

After spending nearly $5.5 billion in 10 months on its Farmers to Families Food Box program, the USDA said on Monday it was open to suggestions on a replacement. "While the food box effort served some communities well, it faced challenges in others," said the Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees the food giveaway.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week the food box program might emerge in a new format because of its success in delivering perishable foods to people isolated from grocery stores, but a decision was yet to be made. The food box program is funded through the end of April in its current form. Some 143.5 million boxes of food have been donated since the program went into operation last May 15, says USDA.

The USDA has $1.5 billion at its disposal for a new round of contracts under the existing program or a new "food purchase and distribution program intended to provide additional aid to nonprofits serving Americans in need of nutritional assistance." In an announcement, the USDA said it would hold a listening session on March 22 and accept public comments through March 31. "If implemented, the program will serve as a successor" to the food box, it said.

Under the food box program, the USDA pays contractors to buy food — fresh produce, dairy products, and cooked chicken and pork — at the local level, package it, and deliver the boxes to food banks and other outlets for distribution. The program, created on the fly, has been criticized as inefficient. There were also complaints of contracts going to inexperienced vendors and spotty quality of the food.

The food box was the Trump administration response to hunger during the pandemic. It opposed increases in SNAP benefits and sought to limit eligibility for food stamps.

At almost the same time that USDA asked for comments on a new food distribution system, state agriculture officials recommended continuation of the food box. "With some enhancements, we can extraordinarily expand the benefits of the program by allowing more producers to contribute and increasing the amount of food we can share with families in need," said Barb Glenn, chief executive of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).

In a letter, NASDA suggested seven changes, among them making more types of meat available, increasing participation by socially disadvantaged farmers and vendors, and consideration of the impact on small farms and distributors if contracts are awarded solely on the basis of lowest price. There also should be more flexibility to pack boxes with foods that are local favorites and that are locally available, said NASDA.

A month ago, a report by the Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the food box program "has accomplished much and can serve as a model for future USDA fresh food purchasing and distribution efforts." It had eight recommendations for improvement, including stronger emphasis on purchases from small and medium-size producers.

The USDA operates an array of public nutrition programs. The largest is SNAP, which helps 43 million people buy food. The Emergency Food Assistance Program donates packaged and dry foods to charities. WIC provides additional food to pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program delivers food packages to low-income elderly people.

The NASDA letter is available here.

The report from the Food Law and Policy Clinic and NSAC is available here.

The homepage for the food box program is available here.