Congresswoman Schrier Introduces Legislation to Expand Access to Healthy, Nutritious Food for Washington Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representatives Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), and Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) introduced the Expanding Access to (EAT) Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to improve Americans' access to nutritious food by making commonsense updates to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

"As a doctor, particularly as a pediatrician, I understand the crucial role that proper nutrition plays in our development, health, and well-being, and, conversely, the relationship between poor nutrition and so many of the preventable diseases that plague us today," said Congresswoman Schrier, M.D."All Americans, regardless of their income, should have access to good nutrition, and my bill helps to work towards that reality by getting fresh produce from local farmers to local food banks."

Earlier this year, funding for the USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance program, which allowed state and tribal governments to purchase and distribute regional foods, was cancelled. The EAT Healthy Foods Act provides a solution to the loss of this program by building a similar purchasing model into TEFAP.

TEFAP is a federal program that provides low-income Americans with nutrition assistance in emergency situations. Through TEFAP, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases food and makes it available to local agencies such as food banks, soup kitchens, and more. Unfortunately, TEFAP is currently centered on long-lasting, processed products rather than fresh, local food. These restrictions make access to more nutritious produce out of reach for many American families.

The EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act will expand and improve TEFAP by providing organizations with better access to fresh food. Specifically, the bill will:

• Add a new project type under TEFAP's Farm to Food Bank Project Grants to provide federal funding to states for the purchase of locally grown food from small/beginning/underserved agricultural producers or entities to be distributed to emergency feeding organizations.
• Create a USDA working group to review and reconsider how all USDA procurement can be directed to support a wider range of farmers, ranchers, and food distributors.

"Food banks in NW Oregon and across the country have increased demand as families deal with rising prices, changes to food assistance programs, and the lingering effects of the government shutdown," said Congresswoman Bonamici. "Expanding the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) will make it easier to increase the supply of healthy food to food banks and other emergency feeding organizations while benefitting small and medium sized local farms. This is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will help address hunger and support farmers, and I hope we can pass it soon.

"Our farmers work hard every single day, and a lot of families rely on the fresh food they grow," said Congressman Van Drew."This bill helps support our small and underserved farmers, and at the same time it gets healthy local food to the food banks and pantries. That is what real community looks like, and I am proud to be a co-lead on this effort."

Congresswoman Schrier also joined Congresswoman Bonamici in introducing the Supporting Transportation Organization and Refrigeration Expansion (STORE) Act. This legislation compliments the EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act by expanding access to food storage and transportation infrastructure for emergency food organizations.

The EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act is endorsed by NW Harvest, Harvest Against Hunger, and the Making a Difference Foundation.