The Second Harvest Food Bank is one of 200 food banks in the Feeding America network preparing for an influx of government commodities.
The government’s plan is to spend $1.2 billion to purchase food to assist farmers dealing with tariffs levied by China and other countries. This is good news for Second Harvest and its member agencies throughout northwest Pennsylvania. It also poses a complex and immediate challenge as the incoming food is free, but will incur significant cost to handle, store and distribute.
“While we see this influx of food as a blessing for those in our anti-hunger network, it also puts a strain on our food bank,“ explained executive director Karen Seggi. The truckloads of food include frozen foods which require freezer storage capacity that the food bank cannot provide, especially during the holiday months. Subsequently, the products will need to be transported to rented space. “This is free food that we just can’t turn away, but it is coming with an extra cost to the food bank.”
Second Harvest will receive 28 truckloads of food such as: pork, chicken, apples, cheese, potatoes, rice, nuts, beans and milk. The trucks loaded with food are scheduled to arrive November through March 2019. In order to help alleviate the financial burden to handle, store and distribute, Second Harvest is asking for help from its supporters.
“We can offset the cost of this wonderful donation with help from the community,” Seggi said. “You can either offer a monetary donation or you can ask your local legislator to support sufficient funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in the 2018 Farm Bill. Congress must make strong new investments in TEFAP food purchase and storage and distribution funds to help ensure food banks like ours can meet the needs of the hungry in our region.”
TEFAP storage and distribution funds are an important source of support for food banks, including Second Harvest. The funds are authorized in the farm bill, with the funding levels provided through congressional appropriations each year.
According to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, Congress has appropriated these critical funds for years at just over half of the authorized level of $100 million
annually. Last year, TEFAP Storage and Distribution’s funding only covered 22 percent of the cost of distributing TEFAP commodities – leaving food banks to bridge the gap.
Individuals can help by donating funds to offset the handling, storage and distribution costs of TEPAF Food Influx
For more information, visit www.nwpafoodbank.org or call 814.459.3663. Help can also be provided by contacting local legislators and request they support TEFAP Food Purchase and Distribution Funds.
