What Emergency Food Support Exists?

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Unfortunately some people have to worry about finding their next meal or, some hope to someday not worry about a budget when it comes to groceries. As hopeless as that sounds, you can find comfort in knowing that there are options out there to keep you from struggling with these things. It’s true that increasing grocery prices are making it harder to keep up, and food is not something you can live without. So, maybe it is time to look for help and not just from your loved ones. You can look elsewhere and actually find a solution that will help you and your family out. The solution could come from the federal government. We are here to tell you how that could be!

What You Should Know About TEFAP

You might have heard of food programs from the government, but you might not have heard of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). TEFAP is a federal program that does its best to keep people healthy. When people are healthy, they are happy, and this program tries to make that happen too! But, how do they actually accomplish this? Through providing free food to qualifying people in need. Basically, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds TEFAP with a purpose. Their goal is to use TEFAP as a way to provide certain nutritious food to state agencies (as well as additional funding).

How Much Does TEFAP Give States And How Can You Get Benefits? 

Want to hear the best thing about this program? TEFAP offers free nutritional support, which is the most helpful part for you and your family! The program looks at the number of unemployed individuals in the state and other eligible people. After that, they decide how much the state receives. TEFAP takes place among four parties, which are:

  • TEFAP
  • State governments
  • State/local food agencies
  • Qualifying people

You will find that states give these resources to food agencies. After that, these agencies give benefits to organization. At which point, these organizations directly aid qualifying individuals. However, TEFAP can also give funds to community action agencies who can help the public directly – it just depends!

Different Types of Food Assistance Programs

What happens if you don’t qualify for TEFAP? Do you just give up? No, absolutely not, you don’t have to throw in the towel! You can always look for more food support options from the federal government. They might not help you the same way as TEFAP, but they could help you out! Let’s show you some of the popular federal food support programs out there, like:

  • Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)

The FFVP provides fresh fruits and vegetables, as the name shows, to kids every day of the school year. Since it’s hard to get your kid to eat their vegetables for dinner, the federal government wants to help you out! States are responsible for this program, which is why you should contact your state’s FFVP agency for information. This program focuses on encouraging kids to eat fresh produce and to introduce new produce that kids are not familiar with. If your kid tells you about a new fruit they ate at school that you didn’t know existed, then you will learn about it too! Fortunately, you can find their contact information online to get the information you need!

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Now, you probably already know about this program, but we will try to refresh your memory! This program offers funds per month through a card called the Electronic Benefits (EBT) Card. If you want to buy dairy, bread, or any of the other essential groceries, then you can. However, alcohol and tobacco products, live animals, and cleaning supplies are not on the list of approved groceries. Also, you will not get just any amount on these cards. The program will evaluate several factors before adding funds to your EBT card. If you want to look into this program, then you can contact the SNAP agency of your state through:

  • An in-person appointment
  • Their online website
  • Their toll-free phone number

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

As the name suggests, the WIC program helps pregnant women, women who are postpartum, babies, and toddlers up to the age of five that have nutritional needs. This program helps families through states that get federal grants to operate. However, you should know what kind of benefits they offer! The WIC program funds states to offer benefits like:

  • Healthcare referrals
  • Nutritional support that would supplement their dietary needs
  • Education on nutrition

Federal Assistance Programs To Consider

If you are not experiencing trouble affording groceries, but are facing other concerns,  then you can also turn to the government for help. Did you know that there is a federal program for almost every issue you might face in your life? You can find disability benefit programs, unemployment support programs, healthcare programs, and more! If this sounds a little stressful, then the easiest thing to do is to figure out which parts of your life need the most assistance. You can start from there to discover which federal opportunities can support you and your family best! If you need some help, then here is a list of the most popular assistance programs from the federal government:

  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
  • Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
  • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
  • Housing Choice Voucher Program
  • Public Housing
  • Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)
  • Medicare
  • Medicaid

Overall

Before you start looking through these programs and doing your research, you should remember a few things that could be important to your situation. You should know that there are many food support programs that help Americans across the United States who face nutritional risk. Since each person could have different needs when it comes to food support, the federal programs offer a wide range of different food support programs. For example, TEFAP offers free food that is healthy to the elderly and low-income Americans. On the other hand, FFVP provides fresh produce to kids throughout the academic year. Each program serves a different purpose, but they all share one common goal. They want you and others like you to be healthy!