USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

February 12, 2021 – January 24, 2023 R46681

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs:
January 24, 2023
Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Randy Alison Aussenberg
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs are often
Specialist in Nutrition
part of emergency response efforts, providing foods for distribution, additional benefits for
Assistance Policy
redemption, and program flexibilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to food—

particularly in light of increased unemployment and closures of institutions that some households
Kara Clifford Billings
rely on for food, such as schools—has been a concern for many people. Some observers also
Analyst in Social Policy
view the programs, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as a

means of economic stimulus. This report discusses related provisions of seven laws that
supplement FNS’s prior response to the COVID-19 pandemic with new funds and authorities:
Gene Falk
Specialist in Social Policy


Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA; P.L. 116-127, enacted March 18,
2020);

 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136, enacted
March 27, 2020);
 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (P.L. 116-159, enacted October 1, 2020);
 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Division N, Title VII (P.L. 116-260, enacted December 27, 2020);
 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Title I (ARPA, P.L. 117-2, enacted March 11, 2021);
 Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, Division D, Title I (P.L. 117-
43, enacted September 30, 2021); and
 Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-158, enacted June 25, 2022).
This report also provides an overview of USDA’s implementation of COVID-19 response laws, including the Biden
Administration’s changes to the implementation of some of the 116th Congress laws’ provisions. Further, the report notes the
areas in which the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Division HH, Title IV (P.L. 117-328, enacted December 29,
2022) reduced funding or otherwise amended FFCRA and ARPA policies.
Within SNAP, the COVID-19 pandemic response laws have allowed for certain changes to eligibility and benefit amounts.
Among other changes, FFCRA authorized an option for states to increase households’ benefits up to the maximum amount.
More recently, P.L. 116-260 and then ARPA increased the maximum benefit amount by 15% for January through September
2021. In addition, the laws allowed for a variety of administrative flexibilities; for instance, provisions designed to make it
easier for states to manage the recertification of participating households during social distancing. The laws also provided
additional funding for benefits and specified grants for other SNAP and related functions.
The pandemic response laws supplemented the block grant funding for Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These territories do not operate SNAP, but rather their own nutrition
assistance programs using block grant funding.
FFCRA first established the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, and subsequent pandemic response
laws expanded it. This program provides SNAP-like benefits to eligible households, serving as replacements for meals that
normally would have been provided in schools and, following expansion of the program, in child care centers.
The pandemic response laws have also enabled changes within institution-based child nutrition programs, including school
and summer meals programs. The pandemic response for these programs has included an expansion of USDA’s ability to
waive child nutrition program requirements, the temporary ability for providers to serve free meals to all children, and a
program to cover financial losses for meal providers.
The laws have also provided supplemental appropriations for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC) and a benefit increase through ARPA that was subsequently extended. In addition, they gave
USDA authority to issue a wide variety of program waivers, including changes to benefit issuance, product availability, and
physical presence requirements.
Congressional Research Service

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Supplemental funding was provided to programs that distribute USDA-purchased commodities. The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP) provides federally purchased foods and administrative funds to states for distribution to
emergency feeding organizations, including food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens. Three of the pandemic response
laws together provided over $1.2 billion to TEFAP. Smaller amounts were also provided for the Food Distribution Program
on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
In addition to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through its existing nutrition assistance programs, USDA launched two
new programs to feed people on a temporary basis: (1) the Farmers to Families Food Box program, initially funded under the
FFCRA, which provided food boxes to individuals and households; and (2) the Emergency Meals to You program, which
provided food boxes to households with school-aged children in rural areas. FNS also activated emergency food distribution
programs in certain states and tribal nations during the early months of the pandemic.
Congressional Research Service

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought food access issues to the forefront in the United
States, as businesses and individuals grapple with food shortages and increases in food prices. For
many households, the pandemic raised additional challenges in affording and accessing food,
including loss of income associated with an initial spike in unemployment and the closure of
institutions, like schools, that many Americans rely on for food.1 However, trends in the food
insecurity rate during the pandemic, particularly in 2020, have been difficult to assess, possibly
reflecting changing conditions (for example, in unemployment and government assistance) and
mixed approaches to data collection.2 USDA found that the national rate of food insecurity was
unchanged between 2019 and 2021. However, some subpopulations experienced changes that
were considered statistically significant to their food insecurity status during this time frame.3
Other analyses indicated that food insecurity rates increased during 2020, generally declined in
2021, and trended upward in 2022.4 There was also evidence of increased use of charitable food
assistance in 2020 and 2021.5
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs have been
seen as a critical component to combatting food insecurity during the pandemic. At the same
time, they have had to adjust to unprecedented administrative challenges, such as how to enroll
households in benefits remotely and how to reach people who were previously served in
institutional settings. Increasing households’ food purchasing power may also be a means of

1 See CRS Report R46554, Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
2 See discussion on pages 15-16 of A. Coleman-Jensen, M.P. Rabbitt, C.A. Gregory, and Singh, A., Household Food
Security in the United States in 2020, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economic Research Service, September
2021, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/102076/err-298.pdf?v=9561.5. During the pandemic, the Census
Bureau launched a new, experimental Household Pulse Survey, collecting periodic data on food insufficiency—a
related concept to food insecurity. The Census Household Pulse survey data showed an increase in food insufficiency
from April 2020 to December 2020, a general decline in 2021, and a general increase in 2022. U.S. Census Bureau,
“Household Pulse Survey Data Tables,” https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html
(see “Table 1. Food Sufficiency for Households, in the Last 7 Days, by Select Characteristics”).
3 For example, there was a significant increase in food insecurity for households with no children and for elderly people
living alone, and significant decreases in food insecurity for households with children and all low-income households
(with incomes below 185% of the federal poverty threshold.) See A. Coleman-Jensen, M.P. Rabbitt, C.A. Gregory, and
A. Singh, Household Food Security in the United States in 2021, USDA, Economic Research Service, September 2022.
4 For example, see E. Waxman, P. Gupta, and M. Karpman, “More Than One in Six Adults Were Food Insecure Two
Months into the COVID-19 Recession,” Urban Institute, July 2020, https://www.urban.org/research/publication/more-
one-six-adults-were-food-insecure-two-months-covid-19-recession; E. Waxman and P. Gupta, “Food Insecurity Fell
Nearly 30 Percent between Spring 2020 and 2021,” May 26, 2021, https://www.urban.org/research/publication/food-
insecurity-fell-nearly-30-percent-between-spring-2020-and-2021; and E. Waxman, J. Salas, P. Gupta et al., Food
Insecurity Trended Upward in Midst of High Inflation and Fewer Supports, Urban Institute, September 2022,
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/food-insecurity-trended-upward-midst-high-inflation.
5 For example, the estimated rate of households using food pantries was 4.4% in 2019, 6.7% in 2020, and 5.6% in 2021,
according to A. Coleman-Jensen, M.P. Rabbitt, C.A. Gregory, and A. Singh, Household Food Security in the United
States in 2021, USDA, Economic Research Service, September 2022, p. 19; and A. Coleman-Jensen and M.P. Rabbitt,
“Food Pantry Use Increased in 2020 for Most Types of U.S. Households,” November 8, 2021,
https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2021/november/food-pantry-use-increased-in-2020-for-most-types-of-u-s-
households; E. Waxman, P. Gupta, and D. Gonzales, “Charitable Food Use Increased Nearly 50 Percent from 2019 to
2020,” Urban Institute, March 2021, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103825/charitable-food-use-
increased-nearly-50-percent-from-2019-to-2020_0.pdf; A.T. Byrne and D.R. Just, “Impacts of COVID-19 on Food
Banks,” Choices, Quarter 1, 2022, https://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/impacts-of-
covid-19-on-food-banks; and Feeding America, “Charitable Food Assistance Participation in 2021,” June 15, 2022,
https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/press-room/53-million-received-help-2021.
Congressional Research Service

1

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

economic stimulus.6 The response of FNS programs to the COVID-19 pandemic has been shaped
by new federal laws as well as USDA, states, and providers working under the parameters of the
laws.
This report discusses related provisions of seven laws that supplement FNS’s COVID-19
pandemic response with new funds and authorities:
 Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA; P.L. 116-127, enacted March
18, 2020);
 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136,
enacted March 27, 2020);
 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (P.L. 116-159,
enacted October 1, 2020) (“FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act”);
 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Division N, Title VII (P.L. 116-260,
enacted December 27, 2020) (“FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act”);7
 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Title I (ARPA, P.L. 117-2, enacted March 11,
2021);
 Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act,
Division D, Title I (P.L. 117-43, enacted September 30, 2021; “FY2022
Extending Government Funding Act”); and
 Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-158, enacted June 25, 2022).
This report also discusses the Biden Administration’s implementation of ARPA and its changes to
the administration of some of the policies included in the 116th Congress laws. On January 22,
2021, President Biden signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to “promptly identify
actions they can take within existing authorities to address the current economic crisis resulting
from the pandemic.”8 On that date, the White House and USDA, pursuant to this executive order,
announced plans to change the implementation of certain provisions of the enacted COVID-19
pandemic response laws, particularly through increasing certain benefit amounts.9 Further, the
report notes the areas in which the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Division HH, Title IV
(P.L. 117-328; enacted December 29, 2022; “FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act”) reduced
funding or otherwise amended FFCRA and ARPA policies.

6 Patrick Canning and Rosanna Mentzer Morrison, “Quantifying the Impact of SNAP Benefits on the U.S. Economy
and Jobs,” Amber Waves Magazine, July 18, 2019, https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2019/july/quantifying-the-
impact-of-snap-benefits-on-the-us-economy-and-jobs/.
7 In between P.L. 116-136 and P.L. 116-260, the House passed two COVID-19 pandemic response bills that were not
taken up by the Senate. Each of these contained domestic food assistance provisions. This CRS report only discusses
enacted laws.
8 Executive Order 14002, “Economic Relief Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” 86 Federal Register 7229-7230,
January 22, 2021.
9 The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Biden’s New Executive Actions Deliver Economic Relief for American
Families and Businesses Amid the COVID-19 Crises,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/
briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-
relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/; USDA, “Biden Administration Expands P-EBT
to Benefit Millions of Low-Income and Food Insecure Children During Pandemic: USDA Says SNAP Benefits Are
Inadequate for Most Participants and Begins Process to Extend Emergency Allotments to States and Update Thrifty
Food Plan Formula,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-001521. USDA also
announced an update to the Thrifty Food Plan; this an implementation of an earlier, nonpandemic-response law, the
2018 farm bill (P.L. 115-334).
Congressional Research Service

2

link to page 10 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The report also discusses some FNS actions taken to facilitate nutrition assistance program
operations during the pandemic, including waivers of program requirements and new USDA
initiatives to respond to food needs.10
Discussion of these laws and actions is organized by program in the sections to follow (e.g.,
SNAP policies from multiple acts are discussed within the same section).
Many of the COVID-19 pandemic response laws have policies contingent upon a public health
emergency, defined as the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ declaration of a public health
emergency, under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act based on an outbreak of COVID-
19. Unless stated otherwise, references to “public health emergency” in this report refer to this
federal declaration by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
USDA FNS COVID-19 Pandemic Response Website
FNS has maintained a website throughout the pandemic that provides a hub for its pandemic guidance and
resources: https://www.fns.usda.gov/coronavirus.
Many of the policies discussed in this report vary state-by-state. For example, not every state applied for every
available program waiver. The website shows which options a particular state is implementing, or allows users to
check how common a particular option is.
For nearly every statutory provision, FNS has issued guidance, including question-and-answer documents that
elaborate upon the requirements in law. The website is a resource for consulting these further policy details.
In some cases, FNS has offered program flexibilities under existing authority. For example, the Commodity
Supplemental Food Program offered new COVID-19 pandemic flexibilities without policy changes in the pandemic
response laws. The FNS website is a place to check on program operations aside from those enacted in the new
laws.
Funding Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic response laws included supplemental funding for USDA nutrition
assistance programs. Some of this funding was a finite, specified amount. In other cases, open-
ended funding was authorized and appropriated in such sums as necessary. A specific ceiling was
not provided in the laws for the open-ended funding. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
has estimated or is to estimate how that funding is expected to impact direct spending, but those
estimates do not dictate a ceiling or floor to the spending.
Table 1 provides an overview of the funding provided by the laws, and related policies are
discussed in subsequent sections. Subsequent sections also discuss the different periods for which
funds were made available (e.g., some funds are tied to the public health emergency declaration).
Open-ended funding and CBO scores, when available, are noted but the totals in the table reflect
only the finite funding provided. While the pandemic response laws did not designate funds
specifically for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, USDA used some of the commodity
funds listed for this purpose.
In the case of P.L. 116-159, P.L. 116-260, and P.L. 117-43, the table does not include all FNS
funding in the respective laws, instead it only displays the relevant policies and provisions in the
divisions or sections noted. These three laws included a continuation of annual funding or annual
appropriations for FNS programs, but these funding levels are not included in the table or this
report. Some of the open-ended funding requires subsequent appropriations action, while some of
it is directly appropriated in the pandemic response laws’ provisions.

10 USDA, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), “FNS Responds to COVID-19,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/coronavirus.
Congressional Research Service

3

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Most recently, the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328) made changes to
certain SNAP account funding authorized in past laws. These are changes to Pandemic EBT,
SNAP emergency allotments, and SNAP administrative costs.

Congressional Research Service

4

link to page 12 link to page 12 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 12 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13
Table 1. Supplemental Appropriations for USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
(dollars in millions)
FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
Extending
Continuing
Consolidated
Government
Appropriations Appropriations
Funding Act
FFCRA
Act
Act
(P.L. 117-43,
Keep Kids Fed
(P.L. 116-
CARES Act
(P.L. 116-159),
(P.L. 116-260),
ARPA
Selected
Act of 2022
127)
(P.L. 116-
Division D
Division N
(P.L. 117-2)
Sections,
(P.L. 117-158,
Nutrition Assistance Program
(March 18,
136) (March
(October 1,
(December 27,
(March 11,
September
enacted June
or Activity
2020)
27, 2020)
2020)
2020)
2021)
30, 2021)
25, 2022)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program (SNAP) account
Pandemic EBTa
Open-ended
— Open-ended
Open-ended
Open-ended
—
—
fundingb
fundingc
fundingd
fundinge
SNAP time limit suspension,
Open-ended
—
—
—
—
—
—
emergency allotmentsa
fundingf
SNAP contingency reserve
—
$15,510
—
—
—
—
—
SNAP administrative
—
— Open-ended
—
—
—
—
flexibilities
fundingc
SNAP administrative expensesa
—
—
—
$100
$1,150
—
—
SNAP 15% increase
—
—
— Open-ended
Open-ended
—
—
fundingd
fundingg
SNAP income exclusion, and
—
—
— Open-ended
—
—
—
student provisions
fundingd
CRS-5

link to page 12 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 13
FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
Extending
Continuing
Consolidated
Government
Appropriations Appropriations
Funding Act
FFCRA
Act
Act
(P.L. 117-43,
Keep Kids Fed
(P.L. 116-
CARES Act
(P.L. 116-159),
(P.L. 116-260),
ARPA
Selected
Act of 2022
127)
(P.L. 116-
Division D
Division N
(P.L. 117-2)
Sections,
(P.L. 117-158,
Nutrition Assistance Program
(March 18,
136) (March
(October 1,
(December 27,
(March 11,
September
enacted June
or Activity
2020)
27, 2020)
2020)
2020)
2021)
30, 2021)
25, 2022)
SNAP online purchasing
—
—
—
$5
$25
—
—
Northern Mariana Islands,
$100
$200
—
$614
$1,000
—
—
Puerto Rico, American Samoa
Food Distribution Program on
—
$100
—
—
—
—
—
Indian Reservations
Child Nutrition Programs
—
$8,800 Open-ended
Open-ended
Open-ended
Open-ended
Open-ended
funding for
funding for new
funding for
funding for
funding for
waiversch
program optiondi new program
waiversh
waivers and meal
optionj
reimbursementsk
The Emergency Food Assistance
$400
$450
—
$400
mn
—
—
Programl (TEFAP)
USDA commodity purchases
Open-ended
$1,000n
—
$1,400p
$100m;
—
—
fundingo
open-ended
fundingo
Commodity Supplemental Food
—
—
—
$13q
$37
—
—
Program (CSFP)
Special Supplemental Nutrition
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC)
CRS-6

link to page 13
FY2022
FY2021
FY2021
Extending
Continuing
Consolidated
Government
Appropriations Appropriations
Funding Act
FFCRA
Act
Act
(P.L. 117-43,
Keep Kids Fed
(P.L. 116-
CARES Act
(P.L. 116-159),
(P.L. 116-260),
ARPA
Selected
Act of 2022
127)
(P.L. 116-
Division D
Division N
(P.L. 117-2)
Sections,
(P.L. 117-158,
Nutrition Assistance Program
(March 18,
136) (March
(October 1,
(December 27,
(March 11,
September
enacted June
or Activity
2020)
27, 2020)
2020)
2020)
2021)
30, 2021)
25, 2022)
Supplemental funding
$500
—
—
—
—
—
—
Waivers
—
— Open-ended
—
—
—
—
funding
Cash-Value Voucher Increase
—
—
—
—
$490
r
—
Program Modernization
—
—
—
—
$390
—
—
Gus Schumacher Nutrition
—
—
—
$70
—
—
—
Incentive Program (GuSNIP)
Total (not including open-
$1,000
$26,060 (only open-
$2,602
$3,192 (only open-
(only open-
ended funding estimates)
ended)
ended)
ended)
Source: Compiled by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on the specified laws. Congressional Budget Office cost estimates for H.R. 6201 (April 2, 2020);
H.R. 748 (April 16, 2020); H.R. 8337 (September 23, 2020); H.R. 133, P.L. 116-260, Division N (January 14, 2021); Reconciliation Recommendations of the House
Committee on Agriculture (February 13, 2021); Reconciliation Recommendations of the House Committee on Education and Labor (February 15, 2021).
Notes: All funding in this table is designated as emergency and does not count against budget caps. Emergency Meals to You funding is included in the Child Nutrition
Program row. Funding for the Disaster Household Distribution program is not available and not included in the table.
a. Provisions enacted in the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Division HH, Title IV (P.L. 117-328, enacted December 29, 2022) reduced the open-ended
funding available for Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) and SNAP Emergency Allotments, and rescinded $8 mil ion from SNAP Administrative Expenses provided in ARPA.
b. CBO stated in its estimate that this spending is expected to replace spending on child nutrition programs and therefore does not have a net cost.
c. For all open-ended mandatory funding nutrition provisions in P.L. 116-159 listed in the table, CBO estimated a total of $8.063 bil ion in budget authority for FY2021
and $8.121 bil ion for the 10-year budget window (FY2021-FY2030).
CRS-7

d. CBO has estimated that P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII (Nutrition and Agriculture Relief) provisions increase direct spending by $24.917 bil ion in budget
authority for FY2021 and $25.697 bil ion for the 10-year budget window (FY2021-FY2030). These estimates include nutrition and agriculture provisions, and include
open-ended and capped funding.
e. CBO estimated that these changes would cost $5.560 bil ion over the 2021-2030 period.
f.
CBO estimated that together these changes would increase open-ended spending for benefits by a total of $21.2 bil ion in FY2020 and FY2022. The provision did
not appropriate this funding.
g. CBO estimated that these changes would cost $3.54 bil ion in FY2021.
h. P.L. 116-159 provided open-ended mandatory funding for waivers issued under Section 2202 of FFCRA through September 30, 2021; P.L. 117-43 (Division D,
Section 3102), extended this funding authority through June 30, 2022, with the restriction that such waivers apply only to school year 2021-2022.
i.
P.L. 116-260 provided open-ended mandatory funding for a program to cover a proportion of financial losses experienced by some child nutrition program
providers during the early months of the pandemic.
j.
P.L. 117-2 provided open-ended mandatory funding for meal and snack reimbursements for individuals ages 19-24 served by CACFP-participating emergency
shelters. CBO has estimated that this policy would cost a total of $180 mil ion, spent in FY2021 and FY2022.
k. P.L. 117-158 provided open-ended mandatory funding for waivers issued under Section 2202 of FFCRA through September 30, 2022, with the restriction that such
waivers apply only to summer meal program operations in May through September of 2022. It also provided additional per-meal reimbursements for NSLP, SBP, and
CACFP in school year 2022-2023.
l.
States may use up to $100 mil ion of the funding provided by P.L. 116-127, up to $150 mil ion of the funding provided by P.L. 116-136, and up to 20% ($80 mil ion)
of the funding provided by P.L. 116-260 for food storage and distribution costs.
m. USDA used $100 mil ion in funding under P.L. 117-2 (§1001(b)(4)) (“Food Supply Chain and Agriculture Pandemic Response”) for TEFAP Reach and Resiliency
grants.
n. USDA used $500 mil ion in unobligated funds for the Office of the Agricultural Secretary from the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136, Division B) for the Farmers to Families
Food Box Program, and $500 mil ion from the same account for TEFAP entitlement purchases in FY2022.
o. USDA has open-ended funding authority to “purchase commodities for emergency distribution in any area of the United States during a public health emergency
designation” under P.L. 116-127 (§1101(g)) as extended by P.L. 117-2 (§1108). Using this authority, USDA spent nearly $4 bil ion on the first three rounds of the
Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
p. Section 751 of P.L. 116-260 (Division N) provided no less than $1.5 bil ion for USDA to, among other purposes, “purchase and distribute agricultural products … to
individuals in need, including through delivery to nonprofit organizations that can receive, store, and distribute food items.” Using this authority, USDA spent $1.4
bil ion on the Farmers to Families Food Box program.
q. Up to 20% ($2.6 mil ion) of the funding may be used for state administrative expenses.
r. Section 118 of P.L. 117-43 (Division A) provides authority to continue to increase cash-value vouchers for the first quarter of FY2022, although the policy differs
from that included in ARPA. Spending from the WIC account is authorized by the provision. The FY2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-103, Division
A, Section 787) continued this authority.

CRS-8

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a number of challenges for SNAP. To address the economic
downturn and increased unemployment, the laws have included temporary benefit increases as
well as a requirement for the partial suspension of certain work-related eligibility rules. The laws
also have granted USDA authority to offer administrative flexibilities to SNAP state agencies,
responding to the constraints of social distancing, remote work, and higher rates of new SNAP
participants.
SNAP participation and spending data since March 2020 reflected increases in participation and
spending during the pandemic.11 The monthly average of SNAP participants increased from 37.2
million (19.1 million households) in March 2020 to 42.7 million (22.0 million households) in
May 2020. It peaked at 43.0 million participants (22.3 million households) in September 2020. In
September 2022, SNAP participation was at 41.7 million participants (21.9 million households),
below peak post-March 2020 levels, but still above the number of participants in March 2020.
Program costs were $60.4 billion in FY2019 and $78.9 billion in FY2020, an $18.5 billion (31%)
increase for the full year. Costs further increased to $113.68 billion in FY2021 (a 44% increase
from FY2020), reflecting a full year of the pandemic and pandemic response, including nine
months of a 15% increase to the maximum benefit.
SNAP’s funding is largely open-ended mandatory appropriations. To the extent to which the
COVID-19 pandemic response laws change eligibility for SNAP benefits or the calculation of
those benefits, the laws create the budget authority to expend already appropriated funds for those
benefits. In some cases, supplemental funding for policies was appropriated within the same law
authorizing a change in policy; in others, funding was provided for the purpose in subsequent
laws. These issues are discussed below.
SNAP Benefit Increases and Waivers
Over the course of the 116th and 117th Congresses, COVID-19 response laws provided several
increases to SNAP benefits. First, FFCRA provided emergency allotments up to the maximum
benefit amount; these particular increases were expanded under the Biden Administration’s
interpretation of the law. Then, the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act increased the
maximum benefit amount, and ARPA extended the duration of this increase through September
30, 2021. Separate from the pandemic response laws, the Biden Administration implemented a
provision of the 2018 farm bill creating an across-the-board increase to SNAP benefits that went
into effect October 1, 2021.
Emergency Allotment Increases
FFCRA provided for temporary SNAP benefit increases during the COVID-19 public health
emergency; this provision applies only when both (1) a public health emergency under Section
319 of the Public Health Service Act and (2) a state emergency have been declared.12 The

11 Data in this paragraph is from USDA, FNS, SNAP Data Tables, available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/
supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap.
12 P.L. 116-127, Division B, Title III, §2302(a). This provision is authorized only when both federal and state
emergencies are in place, specifically: “in the event of a public health emergency declaration by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act based on an outbreak of coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) and the issuance of an emergency or disaster declaration by a State based on an outbreak of
Congressional Research Service

9

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328) sunsets the authority to provide
emergency allotments, making February 2023 the last available month.
Prior to this policy, SNAP benefits were calculated by subtracting a share of the household’s net
income from a maximum benefit; some but not all households received the maximum benefit.13
With emergency allotments, the law required USDA to grant SNAP state agencies’ requests that
are supported “with sufficient data (as determined by [USDA]).” The increases are “to address
temporary food needs not greater than the applicable maximum monthly allotment for the
household size.” For much of the pandemic, all 53 SNAP state agencies were providing these
emergency allotments, but the number of states doing so has fluctuated as some state emergency
declarations have ended or ended and resumed.14
The Trump and Biden Administrations implemented the emergency allotments policy differently.
During the Trump Administration, USDA interpreted the emergency allotments increase as
available for any household that would have been eligible for less than the maximum benefit.
These households then would receive the maximum benefit amount. Under this interpretation,
households already receiving the maximum allotment did not receive any emergency allotment
increase. This interpretation was the subject of litigation.15
The Biden Administration reviewed its authority to allow states to provide emergency allotments
on top of the regular maximum benefit 16 and ultimately implemented an increase for the
households that were receiving the maximum pre-emergency allotment.17 Under April 1, 2021,
guidance, the Biden Administration updated the prior Administration’s guidance to provide an
emergency allotments minimum increase of $95 to all households.18 Those that received no prior
increase would get $95 and those with a prior increase of less than $95 would receive the
difference.

COVID-19.” (emphasis added).
13 For a summary of income eligibility and benefit calculation, see CRS Report R42505, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP): A Primer on Eligibility and Benefits.
14 For example, 53 SNAP state agencies provided emergency allotments in December 2020, and 28 SNAP state
agencies provided them in January 2023. USDA-FNS website, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/covid-19-emergency-
allotments-guidance.
15 See, for example, Gilliam v. United States Dep't of Agric., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166171 at 1 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 11,
2020), Hall v. United States Dep't of Agric., 467 F.Supp.3d (N.D. Cal. June 17, 2020). See also Kate Giammarise,
“'Just Scraping By’: Families in PA Waiting on Additional Food Stamps as Court Fight Continues,” WESA, December
3, 2020, https://www.wesa.fm/post/just-scraping-families-pa-waiting-additional-food-stamps-court-fight-
continues#stream/0.
16 The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Biden’s New Executive Actions Deliver Economic Relief for American
Families and Businesses Amid the COVID-19 Crises,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/
briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-
relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/; and U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Biden
Administration Expands P-EBT to Benefit Millions of Low-Income and Food Insecure Children During Pandemic:
USDA Says SNAP Benefits Are Inadequate for Most Participants and Begins Process to Extend Emergency Allotments
to States and Update Thrifty Food Plan Formula,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-
item/usda-001521.
17 USDA, FNS, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Emergency Allotments, memo to All SNAP
State Agencies et al., April 1, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource-files/fns-determination-
regarding-enhanced-emergency-allotments.pdf.
18 See further details at USDA, FNS, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Emergency Allotments,
memo to All SNAP State Agencies et al., April 1, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource-files/fns-
determination-regarding-enhanced-emergency-allotments.pdf.
Congressional Research Service

10

link to page 16 link to page 18 link to page 18 link to page 17 link to page 17 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In states that continue emergency allotments through February 2023, the rules for determining
SNAP benefits for March 2023 will revert to those in effect before the emergency allotment
policy. This will reduce benefits for households in those states. Households eligible for the
maximum benefit for a household of that size will receive that amount and will no longer receive
the $95 extra emergency allotment. Other households will receive a benefit that is the maximum
benefit for a household of that size minus 30% of its countable income.
Temporary 15% Increase to Maximum Monthly Benefits
(January-September 2021)
The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided the authority and funding for a 15%
increase to FY2021 maximum SNAP benefit amounts for January through June 2021.19 ARPA
extended this increase through September 2021.20 The basis for SNAP’s maximum benefit is a
USDA-created and -calculated set of market baskets called the Thrifty Food Plan, a way to
determine the contents and therefore costs of meeting dietary needs under low resource
constraints.21
Table 2 displays, in the middle column, the temporary maximum benefit amounts for households
in 48 states and the District of Columbia based on household size, under this January-September
2021 increase.22 As discussed above, under the Trump Administration’s implementation of the
emergency allotments, especially at the height of the pandemic, virtually all SNAP participants
received this maximum benefit. During the Biden Administration, states with active emergency
allotments policies provided amounts greater than those displayed in the middle column.
(Increases displayed in the last column are discussed later in this section under “USDA Thrifty
Food Plan Increase Beginning in FY2022.”)
The enacted law also required USDA to carry out the temporary increase in particular ways,
allowing flexibility for states.23 For example, USDA was to require a simple process for states to
notify households of the increase, and errors in the implementation of this section are not to be
included in the calculation of a state’s payment error rate.
Table 2. SNAP Maximum Monthly Benefits Before, During, and After COVID-19
Pandemic Response Laws’ 15% Increase
48 States and the District of Columbia
FY2021 Maximum Benefit FY2022 Maximum Benefit
FY2021 Maximum Benefit
Under Temporary
(Thrifty Food Plan
Before Increase
Increasea
update)a
Household
(October 1, 2020-
(January 1, 2021-
(October 1, 2021-
Size
December 31, 2020)
September 30, 2021)
September 30, 2022)
1
$204
$234
$250
2
$374
$430
$459

19 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(a).
20 P.L. 117-2, §1101(a), amending P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(a).
21 See USDA, FNS, “SNAP and The Thrifty Food Plan,” August 17, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/
thriftyfoodplan.
22 Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands each had higher FY2021 benefit amounts and therefore higher
amounts under the temporary increase. USDA, FNS, SNAP-Temporary Increase in Maximum Allotments due to
COVID-19, Memo to All State Agencies, December 28, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/resource-
files/SNAP%20Temp%20Increase%20in%20Max%20Allotments%20COVID_12.28.20.pdf.
23 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(b).
Congressional Research Service

11

link to page 17 link to page 17 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

FY2021 Maximum Benefit FY2022 Maximum Benefit
FY2021 Maximum Benefit
Under Temporary
(Thrifty Food Plan
Before Increase
Increasea
update)a
Household
(October 1, 2020-
(January 1, 2021-
(October 1, 2021-
Size
December 31, 2020)
September 30, 2021)
September 30, 2022)
3
$535
$616
$658
4
$680
$782
$835
5
$807
$929
$992
6
$969
$1,114
$1,190
7
$1,071
$1,232
$1,316
8
$1,224
$1,408
$1,504
Each additional
person
$153
$176
$188
Sources: USDA, FNS, SNAP-Temporary Increase in Maximum Allotments due to COVID-19, Memo to All State
Agencies, December 28, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/temporary-increase-maximum-allotments-due-
covid-19-revised-12282020; USDA, FNS, SNAP–Fiscal Year 2022 Cost-of-Living Adjustments, August 16, 2021,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fy-2022-cost-living-adjustments.
Notes: Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands each had higher FY2021 benefit amounts and therefore
higher amounts under the temporary increase. FY2022 benefit amounts reflect the Administration’s recent
(August 16, 2021) action reevaluating the “Thrifty Food Plan,” SNAP law’s basis for household benefit amounts.
FY2022 amounts have been increased for all participating SNAP jurisdictions while development of Alaska and
Hawaii Thrifty Food Plan is ongoing. See table sources for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands benefit
amounts.
a. Under April 2021 Biden Administration revised emergency allotments guidance, some households may
receive as much as $95 above these amounts. Emergency allotments are sunset after February 2023.
Administrative Flexibilities
FFCRA allowed USDA to adjust (through guidance and based on states’ requests) administrative
requirements like benefit issuance and household reporting requirements.24 In initially
implementing this provision, USDA offered and extended blanket waivers for states’
recertification requirements, providing additional flexibility on interview timelines, certification
periods, and protocols for the program’s Quality Control system, a state-federal system
established to measure payment accuracy in the program. Beginning in July and August 2020,
USDA, under the Trump Administration, declined states’ requests to continue these waivers.25
The FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act required USDA to extend specified administrative
flexibilities, creating a variety of administrative flexibilities for states to operate SNAP,
particularly in recertifying currently participating households.26 Examples of these state options
include extending certification periods for households whose SNAP benefits were set to expire on
or before June 30, 2021, and allowing simplified reporting requirements for SNAP households
with recertification set to expire on or before December 31, 2021. States are required to notify

24 P.L. 116-127, Division A, Title I, §1101(b).
25 See, for example, Julie Zauzmer, “USDA will end coronavirus exception, making SNAP recipients prove their
income again to get food stamps,” Washington Post, July 31, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/
07/31/usda-will-end-coronavirus-exception-making-snap-recipients-prove-their-income-again-keep-getting-food-
stamps/.
26 P.L. 116-159, Division D, Title VI, §4603(a).
Congressional Research Service

12

link to page 16 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

USDA of their selected options, but the options are not subject to USDA approval. The provision
also authorized and appropriated open-ended mandatory funding for these policy changes.
USDA under the Biden Administration has continued to offer administrative flexibilities. The
agency does so most recently in December 8, 2021 guidance, where USDA provides for a policy
and process for continuing administrative flexibilities through the FFCRA authority and through
specific regulatory waivers.27 This guidance requires the requesting state to confirm with FNS the
presence of a state emergency or disaster declaration at three-month intervals in order to extend
flexibilities. The policy has been in place since the beginning of January 2022 and is to last
through the end of the month subsequent to the month in which the federal public health
emergency declaration related to COVID-19 is lifted by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services. The guidance notes the temporary nature of the flexibilities.
USDA Thrifty Food Plan Increase Beginning in FY2022
Separate from the implementation of the COVID-19 pandemic response laws discussed in this
report, on August 16, 2021, the Biden Administration announced its reevaluation of and update to
the Thrifty Food Plan, ultimately increasing benefits for FY2022 and future years.28
The contents of the Thrifty Food Plan were last updated by USDA in 2006, and the 2018 farm bill
required USDA to reevaluate the Thrifty Food Plan by FY2022 and every five years thereafter.29
While the maximum benefit amounts were announced for FY2022 (displayed in Table 2),
sustained increases relative to FY2021 can be expected for future years, as the law states that this
new base is adjusted for inflation yearly. The Administration’s update increased the maximum
benefit, creating maximum benefit amounts slightly greater than those afforded during the 15%
increases in FY2021. USDA’s analysis estimates that the cost of this nutritious lowest-cost diet is
21% higher than that used in the prior Thrifty Food Plan (i.e., the amounts pre-January 1, 2021).
Despite this permanent increase to the maximum benefit, households in some states will likely
experience reductions in their specific benefit amount in March 2023 when the emergency
allotments policy ends.30

27 USDA, FNS, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Extension of COVID-19 Administrative
Flexibilities January 2022 and Beyond, Memo to All SNAP State Agencies and All Regions, December 8, 2021,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/extension-covid-19-administrative-flexibilities-january-2022-and-beyond. (“[T]hese
flexibilities are temporary and FNS expects states to actively prepare to operate under normal program rules in the
future, especially with regard to interviews and certification periods.... Resuming regular operations will require
thoughtful planning, especially for states that have used certain adjustments for extended periods, and FNS is prepared
to provide technical assistance. FNS does not expect to approve these COVID-19 flexibilities beyond the duration of
the federal public health emergency. This guidance does not signal or confirm when the federal public health
emergency declaration will end.”)
28 USDA, “USDA Modernizes the Thrifty Food Plan, Updates SNAP Benefits,” press release, August 16, 2021,
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/08/16/usda-modernizes-thrifty-food-plan-updates-snap-benefits. This
report contains a reevaluation of the thrifty food plan for the 48 states and the District of Columbia. Reevaluation of
Alaska and Hawaii Thrifty Food Plans is expected in 2022. The August 2021 report includes an interim adjustment
made for the purposes of FY2022 benefits. Ibid. at 50.
29 P.L. 115-334, Section 4002, amending Section 3(u) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (codified at 7 U.S.C.
§2012(u)).
30 This dynamic is discussed and illustrated in USDA, “Thrifty Food Plan Re-evaluation Puts Nutrition in Reach for
SNAP Participants,” August 30, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2021/08/30/thrifty-food-plan-re-evaluation-
puts-nutrition-reach-snap-participants.
Congressional Research Service

13

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Excluding Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation from
SNAP Income
The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act excluded Federal Pandemic Unemployment
Compensation (FPUC) payments from being counted as income or resources in SNAP
applications.31 It also provided the associated open-ended funding for benefit increases.
Many of the COVID-19 pandemic response laws contained expansions and extensions of
unemployment insurance.32 The SNAP exclusion in the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act
applies to a portion of the payments, the “pandemic unemployment compensation” payments,
which are the additional $300 per week provided under this law, and enacted earlier in the
CARES Act at $600 per week. Until the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, these
payments were counted as income for SNAP households. FPUC, under ARPA’s extension of the
program, continued to be excluded from SNAP income.33 No FPUC benefits were payable for
weeks of unemployment that began after September 4, 2021.34
SNAP eligibility and benefit calculation is primarily determined using a household’s gross
income and, in some states, resources (also called assets) are counted as well. Gross income is all
household income with the exception of a limited list of income sources that are excluded in
statute. Prior to the change made by the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, all
unemployment insurance benefits received were counted as income in a household SNAP
application.
SNAP Work-Related and Student Eligibility Rules
Work-Related Requirements
SNAP’s authorizing law has long included work-related eligibility requirements, the strictest
being a time limit for “able bodied” (nondisabled) adults (ages 18 to 49) without dependents
(ABAWDs) who work less than 80 hours per month.35 FFCRA partially suspended this time limit
nationwide during the period of the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ public health
emergency declaration, allowing new and continuing participants who would have lost eligibility
due to the time limit to continue to receive benefits.36

31 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(d). FPUC is summarized in CRS In Focus IF11723, Unemployment
Insurance Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Division N, Title II, Subtitle A, the Continued
Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of 2020).
32 See the “Enacted Laws in the 116th Congress” section in CRS Report R45478, Unemployment Insurance: Legislative
Issues in the 116th Congress.
33 See treatment of FPUC and other American Rescue Plan economic payments discussed in Jessica Shahin, SNAP
Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, USDA, FNS, Memo to SNAP State Agencies and Regions,
March 12, 2021, pp. 2-3 https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/provisions-american-rescue-plan-act-2021.
34 September 5, 2021, in New York. See CRS Report R46687, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits: Permanent-Law
Programs and the COVID-19 Pandemic Response.
35 For this population, time limit is 3 months of SNAP benefits in a 36-month period if work rules are not met. Time
limits are summarized in CRS Report R42505, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): A Primer on
Eligibility and Benefits.
36 P.L. 116-127, Division B, Title III, §2301. FNS guidance, March 20, 2020, available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/
snap/ffcra-impact-time-limit-abawds. Regarding public health emergency background, see CRS Report R46219,
Overview of U.S. Domestic Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Congressional Research Service

14

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Separately, on March 13, 2020, a federal court temporarily blocked part of a December 2019
USDA final rule that would have narrowed states’ authority to waive the time limit, and which
would have taken effect in part on April 1.37 The court acknowledged that the global pandemic
highlighted the need to provide government officials with flexibility to address their constituents’
nutritional needs “and ensure their well-being through programs like SNAP.”38 Following the
preliminary injunction, on October 18, 2020, the court struck down the rule in its entirety.39 On
March 24, 2021, the Biden Administration announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit has allowed it to withdraw the Trump Administration’s appeal; the Administration plans,
after the COVID-19 suspension, to return to long-standing time limit rules.40
Student Eligibility
Many students attending higher education programs less than half-time are also subject to the
time limit for nondisabled adults discussed above. During the pandemic, the suspension enacted
by FFCRA would apply to them. However, students of higher education attending half-time or
greater are subject to a different requirement, a student disqualification rule.41 Students working
20 hours or more per week, or students meeting one of a list of other exceptions, may be eligible
for SNAP benefits;42 otherwise, students attending half-time or greater are not eligible for SNAP.
FFCRA’s suspension in March 2020 did not suspend the student disqualification rule, leaving the
student disqualification in place for students attending half-time or greater until the FY2021
Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed in December.
The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act then suspended the student disqualification rule for
certain students during the public health emergency.43 The suspension of the rule applies to
students enrolled at least half-time in an institution of higher education who
 are eligible to participate in a state or federally financed work study program, or
 have an expected family contribution of $0 on their Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA).
These students would not be subject to the student disqualification rule, but would still need to
meet SNAP’s other eligibility rules, such as income eligibility.

37 District of Columbia v. United States Dep't of Agric., 444 F. Supp. 3d, 1, 6-7 (D.D.C. 2020).
38 Ibid at 5.
39 District of Columbia, et al. v. United States Dep't of Agric., 496 F. Supp. 3d 213, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192508 at
5-11 (D.D.C. Oct. 18, 2020). On December 16, 2020, the Trump Administration appealed the District Court decision
(see House Committee on Agriculture, “Fudge Slams Administration for Appealing ABAWD Ruling,” press release,
December 16, 2020, https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2069).
40 U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on D.C. Circuit Court’s Decision
Regarding ABAWDs Rule,” press release, March 24, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/03/24/
statement-agriculture-secretary-tom-vilsack-dc-circuit-courts.
41 Section 6(e) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. §2015(e)). See also CRS Report R46817, Food
Insecurity Among College Students: Background and Policy Options.
42 Exceptions for students (1) under 18 years old or age 50 or older; (2) disabled; (3) enrolled in school because of
participation in specified programs; (4) employed at least 20 hours per week or participates in a work-study program
during the school year; (5) certain parent (based largely on age of the child); or (6) receiving TANF benefits.
43 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(e). The provision is in effect for initial applications until 30 days after the
COVID-19 public health emergency is lifted. It is in effect for recertification until no earlier than 30 days after the
COVID-19 public health emergency is lifted.
Congressional Research Service

15

link to page 22 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This provision also requires that the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of
Agriculture and institutions of higher education, carry out activities to inform students of these
temporary student eligibility requirements.
The law appropriates funding for the provision.
SNAP-Related Funding
For the most part, the SNAP provisions discussed above provide such sums as are necessary or
authorize an eligible purpose for funding in the SNAP account. Several of the COVID-19
pandemic response laws appropriated finite sums of funding for SNAP. These are discussed
below.
Funding provided to Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands is
discussed in the “Nutrition Assistance Funding for Certain Territories” section.
Funds in the CARES Act
The CARES Act provided $15.8 billion for the SNAP account to remain available until the end of
FY2021. This includes $15.5 billion in contingency reserve for SNAP participation should earlier
budget estimates be exceeded.
According to information provided by FNS, the $15.5 billion contingency was all obligated in
FY2020. The funds were primarily used to support providing the emergency allotments,
authorized in FFCRA, to SNAP households.44
Funds in the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act and ARPA
 State administrative expenses. State administrative costs are typically shared
50/50 between SNAP state agencies and the federal government. P.L. 116-260
provided $100 million in federal funding for FY2021.45 This is 100% federal
funding and does not require a match. The provision allocates the funds
according to a formula that considers primarily the state’s share of SNAP
households and secondarily the increase in the state’s SNAP participation over 12
months. ARPA added $1.15 billion to this funding.46 The funding is to be
obligated in FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023.
 Additional assistance for SNAP online purchasing and technological
improvements.47 Prior to the pandemic, FNS had begun to pilot online
redemption of SNAP benefits. In the first months of the pandemic, FNS
expanded the number of states able to participate in the pilot; for most of 2020,
large national retailers were able to take part. P.L. 116-260 provided $5 million to
be split among three purposes: (1) additional support for FNS to test systems and

44 Email communication with USDA, FNS, October 2020.
45 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §702(c).
46 P.L. 117-2, §1101(b). For state-by-state allocations of ARPA funding, see USDA, FNS, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) – Disbursement of SNAP State Administrative Expense Funding Provided by American
Rescue Plan of 2021, Memo to All SNAP State Agencies and All Regions, April 29, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/
snap/administrative-funding-allocations-american-rescue-plan-act-2021.
47 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §703; P.L. 117-2, §1102. For background and current retailers authorized for
online purchasing, see USDA, FNS, “SNAP: Stores Accepting SNAP Online,” available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/
snap/online-purchasing-pilot.
Congressional Research Service

16

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

provide technical assistance to retailers; (2) cooperative agreements or grants to
provide assistance to direct-marketing farmers and farmers’ markets; and (3)
issuance innovation and technology improvement support (this includes
development work regarding the mobile technologies projects authorized by the
2014 farm bill and testing methods to modernize EBT).48 These funds are
available until expended. ARPA then provided $25 million to USDA, available
through FY2026, for four purposes: (1) to make technological improvements to
SNAP online purchasing, (2) to modernize EBT technology, (3) to support
mobile technology projects, and (4) to provide specified technical assistance to
retailers.
 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GuSNIP).49 This program,
administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA),
provides grants for SNAP bonus incentive projects as well as fruit and vegetable
prescription programs. P.L. 116-260 provided an additional $75 million for
GuSNIP, available until expended, which USDA is authorized to use to reduce
grantees’ match rate, waive maximum grant amounts, and provide additional
funding to ongoing grants.
Nutrition Assistance Funding for Certain Territories
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, do not operate a SNAP
program. Instead, they operate programs funded by Nutrition Assistance Program block grants in
lieu of SNAP.50 Whereas SNAP is open-ended mandatory spending and can expand and contract
with economic need, these block grants are limited in their spending without supplemental
appropriations. The SNAP policies that expand eligibility or increase benefit amounts do not
apply to these territories—they apply to the states or territories that operate SNAP.
FFCRA provided $100 million, available until the end of FY2021, for grants to these territories
for nutrition assistance “in response to a COVID-19 public health emergency.”51
The CARES Act then provided $200 million, available until the end of FY2021, for these
territories’ nutrition programs.52
The FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act did not provide additional funding to the nutrition
assistance block grants. However, it did expand the definition of state in the Pandemic Electronic
Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program. Until this change, only jurisdictions operating SNAP had
been authorized and funded to operate the program (P-EBT is discussed further in the next
section).

48 Of the $5 million, no more than $1 million may be used for the first purpose and no more than $1 million may be
used for the second purpose.
49 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §755. For program background, see CRS Report R46538, Local and Urban
Food Systems: Selected Farm Bill and Other Federal Programs.
50 For program history, see Anne Peterson, Bryan Johnson, and Benjamin E. Moulton et al., Implementing
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Puerto Rico: A Feasibility Study, USDA, FNS, June 2010, pp. 7-16,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/implementing-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-puerto-rico-feasibility-study.
51 P.L. 116-127, Division A, Title I, §1102.
52 P.L. 116-136, Division B, Title I.
Congressional Research Service

17

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided $614 million for USDA to fund nutrition
assistance in response to a COVID-19 public health emergency.53 The funds are available through
FY2021, and $14 million is set aside for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
ARPA provided an additional $1 billion, with $30 million set aside for Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands.54
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)
FFCRA established the new P-EBT program, and subsequent laws extended and expanded it.
According to USDA-FNS data, the program issued benefits to an average of 6.9 million people
per month in March through September 2020 and cost $10.7 billion. Under expanded eligibility
rules, including summer eligibility, in FY2021, the program issued benefits to an estimated 8.8
million people, on average, per month and cost $28.2 billion.55
Establishment of P-EBT
FFCRA created P-EBT as an option for states to provide a SNAP-like benefit, when a school is
closed five or more days, to households with children who would have received free or reduced-
price school meals if not for the closure.56 The new program was initially authorized to operate
until September 30, 2020, though it was later extended.57
The benefit amount is equal to at least five days of free meal reimbursements per week. The
Trump Administration authorized this minimum five-day amount. The Biden Administration
increased P-EBT benefit amounts by 15% by including the cost of a free snack reimbursement,
raising the daily rate to $6.82 in the contiguous states.58
Like SNAP, households can use these benefits to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized retailers.
FFCRA authorized this program for FY2020. FNS’s guidance on the program answers a variety

53 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §704.
54 P.L. 117-2, §1103.
55 USDA, FNS, September 2020 Keydata Report, available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/data/january-keydata-report-
september-2020-data. USDA, FNS, October 2021 Keydata Report, available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/data/october-
2021-keydata-report. P-EBT benefits are typically issued for multiple months at one issuance and are often issued
retroactively, so some FY2022 issuances, for instance, could be for FY2021 months’ eligibility and a participant may
have received benefits for a given month though they did not receive an issuance in that month.
56 P.L. 116-127, Division A, Title I, Section 1101.
57 This program was last available in FY2010 (during the H1N1 flu pandemic), having been enacted in an FY2010
appropriations law (P.L. 111-80, §746). It was called P-SNAP in agency guidance at that time. However, unlike what is
happening during the current pandemic, no SNAP state agencies ever administered P-SNAP.
58 The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Biden’s New Executive Actions Deliver Economic Relief for American
Families and Businesses Amid the COVID-19 Crises,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/
briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-
relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/; U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Biden
Administration Expands P-EBT to Benefit Millions of Low-Income and Food Insecure Children During Pandemic:
USDA Says SNAP Benefits Are Inadequate for Most Participants and Begins Process to Extend Emergency Allotments
to States and Update Thrifty Food Plan Formula,” press release, January 22, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-
item/usda-001521; and Jessica Shahin and Cindy Long, Pandemic EBT - State Plans for 2020-2021, USDA, FNS,
Memo to SNAP State Agencies and Child Nutrition State Agencies, January 29, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/
default/files/resource-files/Pandemic%20EBT%20%E2%80%93%20State%20Plans%20for%202020-
2021%20Schools%20and%20Child%20Care%20January%202021%20Attachment%202%20Template.pdf. Guidance
allows states to increase benefits retroactively for school year 2020-2021.
Congressional Research Service

18

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

of questions about program operations.59 In order to identify eligible children and issue benefits,
the P-EBT program is typically administered as a partnership between a state’s SNAP and child
nutrition agencies.
FFCRA authorized and appropriated open-ended funding for P-EBT. FNS initially interpreted the
provision as funding 100% of P-EBT benefits and 50% of state administrative costs.60 As of July
10, 2020, 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were approved to
operate P-EBT in school year 2019-2020.61
P-EBT Extension and Expansion
Though the program expired September 30, 2020, it was extended shortly thereafter in the
FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act.62 This law originally extended the program through
FY2021, and then ARPA removed date limits to the program, instead authorizing P-EBT for any
school year in which there is a COVID-19 public health emergency declaration.63 ARPA also
amended the program to allow operation during summer months.
Among other changes, the FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act expanded the program to
include
 schools with reduced attendance hours due to the pandemic (expanding the
program beyond only closed schools); and
 children in SNAP households enrolled in child care facilities affected by
pandemic closures and reduced hours, as specified in the law.
The FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act amended P-EBT to provide funding for 100% of
state agencies’ administrative costs and also amended the definition of state in the P-EBT
provisions to include Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. ARPA
elaborated that young children participating in these jurisdictions are also eligible for the child
care expansion.
Following the initial extension and expansion of the program, the FY2021 Consolidated
Appropriations Act included program flexibilities to simplify administration of the potential
expansions beyond closed schools and to young children.64 The law allows states to deem
children under six years old in households receiving SNAP benefits as enrolled in covered child
care facilities. Also, the law allows for states to use “best feasibly available” data to determine
school closures and reduced attendance. The Biden Administration published guidance for state
plans, including guidance for implementing the expanded options for the FY2021 Consolidated
Appropriations Act.65

59 See FNS guidance at https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-guidance-coronavirus-pandemic-ebt-pebt.
60 See USDA, FNS, Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) Questions and Answers, April 15, 2020.
61 FNS has interpreted the FFCRA provision, as originally enacted, as only applying to SNAP jurisdictions. Guam is
the only SNAP-operating jurisdiction that had not been approved. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern
Mariana Islands receive block grants for nutrition assistance in lieu of SNAP.
62 P.L. 116-159, Division D, Title VI, Section 4601.
63 P.L. 117-2, §1108, amending P.L. 116-127, §1101.
64 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §721.
65 Resources available at USDA, FNS, “State Guidance on Coronavirus Pandemic EBT (P-EBT),”
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-guidance-coronavirus-pandemic-ebt-pebt.
Congressional Research Service

19

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

As of December 21, 2022, according to the FNS website,66
 50 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the
Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were approved to operate
P-EBT for school year 2020-2021; and
 49 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were approved to
operate 2021 Summer P-EBT.
As of December 21, 2022, according to the FNS website,67
 47 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have been
approved to operate P-EBT for school year 2021-2022; and
 48 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands have been approved to operate P-EBT for 2022 Summer P-EBT.
Changes for 2023 Summer P-EBT
The FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328, Division HH, Title IV, §§502 and
503) made changes to the operation of 2023 Summer P-EBT.
Under the prior law, USDA had authorized a maximum of $391 per child per summer (for the
contiguous United States). The FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act now limits benefit
amounts to a maximum of $120 per child per summer (also for the contiguous United States).
For school year 2022-2023, USDA had changed its P-EBT policy and begun to issue benefits to
households with homeschooled children or children enrolled in fully virtual institutions.68 The
FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act provisions would not allow this for Summer 2023.
Section 502 of the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act authorized a permanent summer
EBT program (not contingent on the COVID-19 pandemic or related emergency declaration).
Section 502(e) bars duplication of summer benefits; that is, a jurisdiction may not provide both
Summer EBT benefits (under the new program) and Summer Pandemic EBT benefits to any
household for the same time period.
Child Nutrition Programs
The federal child nutrition programs include the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and
School Breakfast Program (SBP) (together, the school meals programs), the Summer Food
Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) (together, the summer meals
programs), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), among others.69 The pandemic
response for these programs has included an expansion of USDA’s ability to waive child nutrition

66 USDA, FNS, “State Guidance on Coronavirus Pandemic EBT (P-EBT),” https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-
guidance-coronavirus-pandemic-ebt-pebt.
67 Ibid.
68 See USDA, FNS, “Pandemic EBT – Updated Guidance on Virtual Schools,” September 8, 2022,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/p-ebt-updated-guidance-virtual-schools.
69 For background on child nutrition programs, see CRS Report R46234, School Meals and Other Child Nutrition
Programs: Background and Funding.
Congressional Research Service

20

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

program requirements, the temporary ability for providers to serve free meals to all children, and
a new program to cover financial losses for meal providers.
Overview of Changes to Existing Programs and Waiver Authorities
When schools started closing in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many school
districts and nonprofit organizations began operating the summer meals programs, which, per
existing program regulations and guidance, could operate during “unanticipated school closures”
between October and April with state agency approval.70 Other school districts continued
operating the school meals programs, which USDA clarified could operate during periods of
virtual learning.71
Also starting in March 2020, USDA issued waivers of certain child nutrition program
requirements in response to the pandemic. For example, one of the first waivers USDA issued
was to suspend the requirement that children consume meals in group settings.72 USDA issued
some of these initial waivers using authority under Section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. §1760(l)), which gives USDA the authority to
approve waiver requests from state agencies and institutions on a case-by-case basis.73
Enacted on March 18, 2020, FFCRA expanded the types of child nutrition program waivers that
USDA is allowed to issue during the pandemic:
 Section 2102 of FFCRA allows USDA to grant waivers that increase federal costs
for the purpose of providing meals and snacks during a COVID-19 pandemic-
related school closure. There is no specific expiration date for this authority.
However, USDA has not used this authority to grant recent waivers.74
 Section 2202 of FFCRA allows USDA to issue waivers on a nationwide (rather
than individual state or provider) basis (Section 2202(a)), specifies that USDA
may grant waivers to allow noncongregate feeding in CACFP (Section 2202(b)),
and allows USDA to waive nutritional requirements (meal patterns) in child
nutrition programs if there is a food “supply chain disruption” due to the
COVID-19 pandemic (Section 2202(c)). The authority to issue waivers under
Section 2202 was originally set to expire on September 30, 2020.
Subsequently, the FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act extended Section 2202 of FFCRA
through September 30, 2021, and the FY2022 Extending Government Funding and Delivering
Emergency Assistance Act extended the authority through June 30, 2022, with the restriction that

70 For SFSP periods of operation, see, for example, 7 C.F.R. §§225.6(b)(4) and 225.14(a). For SSO periods of
operation, see USDA, FNS, “Comparison of Programs: SFSP/NSLP/Seamless Option,” January 22, 2015, https://fns-
prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/SFSP_SeamlessComparisonChart.pdf. If a school meets the definition of having a
continuous school calendar (7 C.F.R. §225.2), then SFSP or SSO may be operated during an unanticipated school
closure at any time of the year with state agency approval. The summer meal programs normally operate between May
and September for children on school vacation. USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Allow SFSP and Seamless
Summer Option Operations through SY 2020-2021–Extension,” October 9, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-
19-response-59.
71 USDA, FNS, “COVID-19 Congregate Meal Waivers & Q&As on Summer Meal Delivery Using Existing
Authority,” April 4, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/covid-19/covid-19-meal-delivery.
72 Ibid.
73 Section 12(l) prohibits certain types of waivers, including waivers that increase federal costs, relate to the nutritional
content of meals served, and/or relate to the provision of free and reduced price meals.
74 CRS correspondence with FNS on February 28, 2022.
Congressional Research Service

21

link to page 28 link to page 28 link to page 28 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

such waivers apply only to school year 2021-2022.75 These extensions also provided open-ended
funding for such waivers (discussed under “Supplemental Funding for Child Nutrition
Programs”). The Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022, enacted on June 25, 2022, again extended the
Section 2202(a) nationwide waiver authority—through September 30, 2022—while specifying
that such waivers may only apply to summer meal program operations during the months of May
2022 through September 2022. It also provided open-ended funding for such waivers. In addition,
the act extended the Section 2202(c) meal pattern waiver authority through June 30, 2023.
Section 2(d) of the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 enables USDA to issue child nutrition program
waivers on a nationwide basis through school year 2022-2023 (ending June 30, 2023); however,
no additional funding is provided for this purpose. The act also provides increased
reimbursements for meals served through NSLP, SBP, and CACFP in school year 2022-2023
(discussed in the “Supplemental Funding for Child Nutrition Programs” section).
Use of Waivers
USDA has used the authority under Section 2202 of FFCRA to issue a number of waivers during
the pandemic.76 For example, USDA has issued national waivers of requirements that meals be
served at certain times of day, rules that meals be served to children (enabling parents/guardians
to pick up meals), and nutritional requirements for meals, among other waivers.77 Many of these
waivers have pertained to multiple child nutrition programs.
One waiver—the area eligibility waiver—allowed school districts and nonprofits to serve free
meals to all children without eligibility determinations in summer 2020 and school year 2020-
2021 through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO)
(which is normally only allowed in areas where at least 50% of children qualify for free or
reduced-price meals).78 USDA under the Trump Administration made this option available to all
states starting on May 6, 2020, and continued the option through school year 2020-2021.79
For school year 2021-2022, USDA under the Biden Administration announced that school
districts in states that opted into the waiver could choose to operate under a different policy:
specifically, they could choose to operate SSO through June 30, 2022, serve free meals to all
children without eligibility determinations, and receive the higher SFSP reimbursement rates.80
School districts were not required to participate under the SSO waiver, and could instead choose
to operate NSLP and/or SBP, which required eligibility determinations for free or reduced-price
meals. School districts that chose to operate NSLP/SBP in school year 2021-2022 received the

75 P.L. 116-159, Division D, Title VI, §4602(a); P.L. 117-43, Division D, Title I, §3102.
76 For a list of child nutrition program waivers that USDA has issued during the pandemic, see USDA FNS, “Child
Nutrition COVID-19 Waivers,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/programs/fns-disaster-assistance/fns-responds-covid-19/
child-nutrition-covid-19-waivers.
77 USDA, FNS, “Child Nutrition COVID-19 Waivers,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/programs/fns-disaster-assistance/fns-
responds-covid-19/child-nutrition-covid-19-waivers.
78 USDA, FNS, “COVID–19: Child Nutrition Response #77,” FNS-GD-2021-0017, March 9, 2021,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-77.
79 USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Extend Area Eligibility Waivers–Extension 3,” October 9, 2020,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-response-60; and USDA, FNS, “COVID–19: Child Nutrition Response #73,”
FNS-GD-2021-0013, March 9, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-73.
80 CRS communication with FNS in June 2021. For a list of waivers specific to the 2021-2022 school year, see USDA,
FNS, “School Year 2021-22 Waivers and Flexibilities,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/disaster/pandemic/cn-2021-22-
waivers-and-flexibilities. For more information about SSO, see CRS In Focus IF11633, Summer Meals for Children:
An Overview of Federal Aid.
Congressional Research Service

22

link to page 28 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

NSLP/SBP reimbursement rates. (USDA subsequently raised reimbursement rates for all school
districts, discussed in the “Supplemental Funding for Child Nutrition Programs” section.)
For summer 2022, USDA announced that it would use the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 authority
to allow summer meal program operators to serve free meals to children in all areas (for the third
summer in a row).81 It also issued nationwide waivers enabling higher meal reimbursements,
noncongregate feeding, flexibility around meal times, and grab-and-go/parent pick-up of meals in
summer 2022.82 For school year 2022-2023, USDA has said that the act “does not allow all
students to eat school meals free of charge” and announced a transition back to free and reduced-
price eligibility determinations.83 As of the cover date of this report, USDA has issued a
nationwide waiver of certain penalties for noncompliance with meal patterns when there is a
COVID-19-related supply chain disruption, as well as several individual state waivers, including
waivers allowing states to conduct reviews of school food operations virtually and grab-and-
go/parent pick up of meals when congregate meal service is limited by the COVID-19
pandemic.84
Supplemental Funding for Child Nutrition Programs
In addition to policy changes, the COVID-19 pandemic response laws have provided
supplemental funding for child nutrition programs. In March 2020, the CARES Act provided an
$8.8 billion supplemental appropriation for these programs.85 FNS allocated CARES Act funds to
states in proportion to their share of total child nutrition program reimbursements in the prior
year.86
Subsequently, the FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act provided “such sums as may be
necessary” for child nutrition waivers issued under Section 2202 of FFCRA through September
30, 2021.87 The FY2022 Extending Government Funding Act extended the availability of this

81 USDA, FNS, “Biden Administration Takes Additional Steps to Strengthen Child Nutrition Programs,” June 30,
2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0147.22. Also see USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Extend Area
Eligibility Waivers for Summer 2022 Operations – EXTENSION 5,” June 30, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/
covid-19-child-nutrition-response-107; and USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Allow Area Eligibility for Closed
Enrolled Sites for Summer 2022 Operations – EXTENSION 4,” June 30, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-
child-nutrition-response-108.
82 USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Allow Summer Food Service Program Reimbursement Rates for the Seamless
Summer Option in Summer 2022,” June 30, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-109;
USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Allow Non-Congregate Feeding for Summer 2022 Operations – EXTENSION
7,” July 6, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-111; USDA, FNS “Nationwide
Waiver of Meal Service Time Restrictions for Summer 2022 Operations – EXTENSION 4,” July 6, 2022,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-113; and USDA, FNS, “Nationwide Waiver to Allow
Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children for Summer 2022 Operations – EXTENSION 7,” July 6, 2022,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-112.
83 USDA, FNS, “Biden Administration Takes Additional Steps to Strengthen Child Nutrition Programs,” June 30,
2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0147.22.
84 USDA, FNS, “Waiver to Allow Fiscal Action Flexibility for Meal Pattern Violations Related to COVID-19 Supply
Chain Disruptions Impacting School Meals in School Year 2022-2023 – EXTENSION,” June 30, 2022,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19-child-nutrition-response-110; and UDSA, FNS, “CN Flexibilities for Summer
2022 and School Year 2022-23,” September 22, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/flexibilies-summer-22-sy-22-23;
and USDA, FNS, “SY 2022-23 Child Nutrition Programs Waiver Checklist,” June 8, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/
cn/sy-2022-23-child-nutrition-programs-waiver-checklist.
85 P.L. 116-136, Division B, Title I.
86 CRS correspondence with FNS in June 2021.
87 P.L. 116-159, Division D, Title VI, §4602(d).
Congressional Research Service

23

link to page 26 link to page 26 USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

funding through June 30, 2022, for waivers that apply to the 2021-2022 school year, and the Keep
Kids Fed Act of 2022 extended funding through September 30, 2022, for waivers that apply to
summer meal program operations between May and September of 2022.
The Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 also provides an additional 40 cent reimbursement per lunch
served through NSLP, an extra 15 cents per breakfast served through SBP, and an extra 10 cents
per meal and snack served through CACFP in school year 2022-2023. It also allows tier II
CACFP day care homes to access the higher tier I meal reimbursement rates in school year 2022-
2023 (for background on tier I and tier II day care homes, see CRS Report R46234, School Meals
and Other Child Nutrition Programs: Background and Funding). CBO estimated that the child
nutrition provisions in the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 would cost approximately $3 billion in
FY2022 and FY2023 (but would decrease federal spending overall due to rescissions in the
bill).88
USDA has also used other authorities to provide additional funding for meals served by schools:89
 In December 2021, USDA announced it would distribute $1.5 billion in
commodity aid through the Commodity Credit Corporation in response to supply
chain issues reported by school districts.90 This included $1 billion for school
districts to purchase their own foods (limited to “unprocessed and minimally
processed domestic food such as fresh fruit, milk, cheese, frozen vegetables and
ground meat”), $200 million for states to purchase local foods for distribution to
schools, and $300 million for USDA Food purchases.91 In June 2022, USDA
announced a second round of funding through the Commodity Credit
Corporation—$943 million—allocated to state agencies for distribution to
schools to make similar purchases.92
 In January 2022, USDA announced the annual reimbursement rate adjustment for
SFSP, which affects school districts using the SFSP reimbursement rates in
school year 2021-2022 (discussed previously in the “Overview of Changes to
Existing Programs and Waiver Authorities” section).93 Based on inflation, the

88 CBO, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of the House Amendment to S. 2089, the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022,” June 23,
2022, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58249.
89 For a list of estimated funding by state, see USDA, FNS, “Estimated Amount USDA Provided to School Districts to
Support Pandemic Operations and Supply Chain Challenges,” January 6, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/total-
amount-support-to-school-districts.
90 USDA, “USDA Distributes $1.5 Billion to Strengthen School Meal Program,” December 17, 2021,
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/12/17/usda-distributes-15-billion-strengthen-school-meal-program.
For an introduction to supply chain issues affecting schools, see, for example, Madeleine Ngo, “No Veggies, No Buns,
Few Forks: Schools Scramble to Feed Students Amid Shortages,” New York Times, September 27, 2021,
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/us/politics/schools-labor-supply-shortages.html.
91 Ibid.
92 USDA, FNS, “Biden Administration Takes Additional Steps to Strengthen Child Nutrition Programs,” June 30,
2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-0147.22; and USDA, FNS, “Second Allocation of Supply Chain
Assistance (SCA) Funds to Alleviate Supply Chain Disruptions in the School Meal Programs,” SP 15-2022, July 7,
2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/second-allocation-supply-chain-assistance-sca-funds-alleviate-supply-chain-
disruptions.
93 USDA, FNS, “Summer Food Service Program; 2022 Reimbursement Rates,” 87 Federal Register 1107, January 10,
2022, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/10/2022-00120/summer-food-service-program-2022-
reimbursement-rates; and USDA, “USDA Announces Increased Funding to Support School Meals and to Help
Continue Serving Healthy Meals to Kids,” January 7, 2022, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/01/07/
usda-announces-increased-funding-support-school-meals-and-help.
Congressional Research Service

24

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

SFSP reimbursement rates increased 5.8% starting on January 1, 2022, which
USDA estimated would result in roughly $750 million in additional funding for
school districts from January to June (however, this amount will likely change
based on actual participation).94
Program to Cover Financial Losses of School District and Child Care
Meal Providers
The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided “such sums as are necessary” for a
program to cover financial losses experienced by some child nutrition program providers during
the early months of the pandemic.95 Specifically, the program reimbursed 27.5% of the difference
between meal reimbursements in March 2019 and March 2020 and 55% of the difference
between reimbursements in April, May, and June 2019 and the same months in 2020 for providers
participating in the school meals programs and/or CACFP.96 States could opt in to the program
and participating state agencies were allowed to retain 1% of funds for administrative costs (all
funds had to be expended by September 30, 2021, according to the law).
Temporary Funding for Meals Served to Young Adults at CACFP
Emergency Shelters
ARPA temporarily allows homeless shelters participating in CACFP to receive federal
reimbursements for meals and snacks served to individuals ages 19 through 24 during the
COVID-19 public health emergency.97 Normally, CACFP emergency shelters are reimbursed for
meals and snacks served to children ages 18 and under.98 This policy applies both to emergency
shelters participating in regular CACFP (for young adults residing at the shelter) and/or the
CACFP At-Risk Afterschool component (for young adults residing at or receiving assistance from
the shelter).99

94 USDA, FNS, “Estimated Amount USDA Provided to School Districts to Support Pandemic Operations and Supply
Chain Challenges,” January 6, 2022, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/total-amount-support-to-school-districts.
95 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §722.
96 The program establishes an alternative process for new providers with no reimbursement data for 2019. USDA, FNS,
“Child Nutrition Program Emergency Operating Costs During COVID-19: Implementation Guidance for State
Agencies,” January 26, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/emergency-operating-costs-during-covid-19-
implementation-guidance.
97 P.L. 117-2, §1107.
98 For more information on CACFP emergency shelters, see USDA, FNS, “Child and Adult Care Food Program:
Emergency Shelters,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp/emergency-shelters.
99 For more information on CACFP, see CRS Report R46234, School Meals and Other Child Nutrition Programs:
Background and Funding.
Congressional Research Service

25

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Supplemental Appropriation
FFCRA provided a $500 million supplemental appropriation, available through FY2021, for
WIC.
Waivers
In addition, FFCRA gave USDA further authority to grant waivers allowing WIC participants to
get certified (or recertified) without being physically present at the WIC clinic (which is normally
required).100 Waiver requests are to be made by state agencies to USDA. Also, FFCRA authorized
USDA to grant waivers from program administrative requirements that a state determines “cannot
be met due to COVID-19” and are “necessary to provide assistance” under WIC.101 USDA’s
authority to issue these and the physical presence waivers was initially scheduled to sunset after
September 30, 2020.
For implementation, USDA provided a wide variety of waiver opportunities to states, including
waivers from physical presence and supplemental food package item flexibility. On September
21, 2020 (in advance of the authority’s sunset), USDA announced that it was extending certain
waivers for the duration of the public health emergency.102
Shortly thereafter, the FY2021 Continuing Appropriations Act included an extension of the
FFCRA waiver authorities through September 30, 2021, and provided open-ended funding
authority for the waivers.103 USDA’s September 20, 2021, guidance extends certain WIC waivers
until 90 days after the end of the nationally declared public health emergency.104 On December
21, 2021, USDA published a preliminary report on waivers granted during the COVID-19
pandemic, with emphasis on the physical presence and remote benefit issuance waivers.105
Task Force
The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act required USDA to establish a task force on
supplemental foods delivery in WIC.106 The task force, with certain representations specified, was

100 P.L. 116-127, Division B, Title II, §2203.
101 P.L. 116-127, Division B, Title II, §2204.
102 USDA, FNS, “USDA Extends WIC COVID-19 Flexibilities for Duration of the COVID-19 Public Health
Emergency,” news release, September 21, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-038020.
103 P.L. 116-159, Division D, Title VI, §4602.
104 USDA, FNS, Updated Expiration Schedule for Existing FNS-Approved WIC COVID-19 Waivers, Memo to
Regional Directors and WIC State Agency Directors, September 20, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/policy-
memorandum-2021-10.
105 USDA, FNS, Changes in WIC Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A First Look at the Impact of Federal
Waivers, December 21, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/operations-impact-federal-waivers-during-covid-19-
pandemic. “These findings represent a first, high-level look at select survey data collected to fulfill FFCRA WIC
waiver reporting requirements. Further reporting, including findings on the impacts of other FFCRA WIC waivers, will
be published in a forthcoming report.”
106 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §723.
Congressional Research Service

26

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

to study measures “to streamline the redemption of supplemental food benefits that promote
convenience, safety, and equitable access.” These include online and telephonic ordering with
curbside pickup and payment; and online and telephonic purchasing, home delivery, and self-
checkout. The task force was required to convey its findings and recommendations to the
Secretary of Agriculture by September 30, 2021, and submitted its report on December 9, 2021
(and terminated on that date).107
Temporary Increases to Cash Value Vouchers
Non-infant WIC participants receive a cash value voucher or cash value benefit (CVV/B),
redeemable for fruits and vegetables, as part of their WIC food package. ARPA authorizes an
increase for the CVV/B.108 Under prior regulation, WIC participants receive $9 per month per
child and $11 per month for mothers.109 During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the
ARPA provision authorized USDA to approve state requests for increasing the CVV/B up to a
$35 maximum for a four-month period; state increases could only be made for FY2021
benefits.110 ARPA authorized and appropriated $490 million for this purpose, available through
FY2022.
The FY2022 Extending Government Funding Act continued an increase through the first quarter
of FY2022 (December 31, 2021), but changed the policy in several key aspects.111 First, as
opposed to ARPA’s creation of a state option, the more recent law required USDA to implement
increased CVV/B throughout the program. Second, the amount of the benefit increase changed;
rather than a $35 maximum for all, there are now three different increased amounts that vary by
participant type. This law required USDA to increase the CVV/B “to an amount recommended by
the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine [NASEM] and adjusted for
inflation.” Annual appropriations acts have continued these increases through FY2023, most
recently by the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act.112 USDA implemented this in FY2021
as $24 for child participants, $43 for pregnant and postpartum women participants, and $47 for
fully and partially breastfeeding women participants.113 The FY2023 inflation adjustment has
increased the amounts to $25 for children, $44 for pregnant and postpartum participants, and $49
for breastfeeding participants.

107 Task force membership and the report to Congress are available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/task-force-
supplemental-foods-delivery.
108 P.L. 117-2, §1105.
109 See USDA, FNS, Increase in the Cash Value Voucher for Pregnant, Postpartum, and Breastfeeding Women, Memo
to All State Agencies, All Regions, et al., June 25, 2015, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/increase-cash-value-voucher-
pregnant-postpartum-and-breastfeeding-women.
110 See also USDA, FNS, Implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 State Agency Option to
Temporarily Increase the Cash-Value Voucher/Benefit for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases, Memo to All State Agencies,
All Regions, et al., March 24, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/policy-memorandum-2021-3.
111 P.L. 117-43, Division A, §118. The provision authorizes the funding required for the increase by requiring USDA to
apportion WIC account funds at a rate necessary to accommodate the increase.
112See P.L. 117-328, Division A, Title IV. The most recent extension’s implementation was further described in a
January 4, 2023, USDA policy memorandum: USDA, FNS, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328),
Extending the Temporary Increase in the Cash-Value Voucher/Benefit for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases, Memo to All
State Agencies, All Regional Offices, January 4, 2023, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/policy-memorandum-2023-2.
113 USDA, FNS, Implementation of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act
Temporary Increase in the CVV Benefit for Fruit and Vegetable Purchases, Memo to All State Agencies, All Regional
Offices, October 6, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/extending-government-funding-and-delivering-emergency-
assistance.
Congressional Research Service

27

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Funding for Program Modernization
ARPA authorized and appropriated $390 million for USDA “to carry out outreach, innovation,
and program modernization efforts, including appropriate waivers and flexibility, to increase
participation in and redemption of benefits under programs in WIC.” Funds are available through
FY2024 and waivers are not allowed for WIC food package and nondiscrimination regulations.
The funding is not contingent on the public health emergency. Since initially sharing plans for the
funds, USDA has initiated a range of WIC and WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP)
innovation and modernization efforts.114
Food Distribution Programs
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
TEFAP provides federally purchased foods and administrative funds to states for distribution to
emergency feeding organizations, including food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens.115
In addition to its usual sources of funding,116 TEFAP received dedicated funding to respond to the
COVID-19 pandemic under three pandemic response laws (all of which had to be obligated by
September 30, 2021):
 FFCRA provided $400 million for TEFAP, up to $100 million of which can be
used for food distribution costs;117
 the CARES Act provided $450 million for TEFAP, up to $150 million of which
can be used for food distribution costs;118 and
 the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided a supplemental
appropriation of $400 million for TEFAP, up to 20% of which ($80 million) can
be used for food distribution costs.119
FNS allocated these funds using the state allocation formula specified in TEFAP regulations.120

114 See USDA, FNS, The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and WIC
Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP) Outreach, Innovation, and Program Modernization Strategy, Memo
to All State Agencies, September 29, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/outreach-innovation-and-program-
modernization. Examples of initiatives using this funding include the Community Innovation and Outreach Cooperative
Agreement, WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Benefit Delivery Modernization Grant, Center for WIC
Modernization and Delivery, and WIC Shopping Experience Improvement Grant. More information is available at
USDA, FNS, “WIC Modernization & Innovation,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/outreach-innovation-and-program-
modernization.
115 For background on TEFAP, see CRS Report R45408, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP):
Background and Funding.
116 Ibid (see “Table 1. TEFAP Funding, FY2021”).
117 P.L. 116-127, Division A, Title I.
118 P.L. 116-136, Division B, Title I.
119 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §711.
120 For TEFAP’s state allocation formula, see 7 C.F.R. §251.3(h) or the “State Allocation Formula” section of CRS
Report R45408, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP): Background and Funding. For USDA’s guidance
on the distribution of supplemental funds, see USDA, FNS, “Additional Information on FY 2020 Funding Sources for
TEFAP,” June 12, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/additional-information-fy-2020-funding-sources; USDA,
FNS, “The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP): Allocation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act Supplemental Appropriations,” April 24, 2020; USDA, FNS, “2020 TEFAP FFCRA Allocation
Congressional Research Service

28

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In addition to this specific funding for TEFAP, USDA used emergency authorities to make
additional foods and funds available for TEFAP in FY2022. Using authority under the CARES
Act, which provided funding for USDA “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus by
providing support for agricultural producers,” USDA announced an additional $500 million in
entitlement commodity funding (up to $100 million of which may be used for administrative
costs) for TEFAP in FY2022.121 States (in consultation with emergency feeding organizations)
may use the food funding toward fresh produce boxes (continuing an initiative USDA announced
earlier in 2021) or for staple items including vegetables, meats, dairy, and eggs.122 In addition,
USDA announced its intent to use $100 million in ARPA funding for new TEFAP Reach and
Resiliency competitive grants.123 These grants are set up to fund TEFAP state agencies in
expanding the reach of TEFAP to “underserved remote, rural, Tribal, and/or low-income
communities” and cover expenses such as equipment, warehouse, staff, and training.124 USDA
awarded a first round of funding ($39.4 million) in spring 2022.125
In addition to allocating supplemental funding, during the pandemic, FNS has issued guidance
explaining options that states have under current law to adjust program rules, such as expanding
eligibility rules for participants and waiving signature requirements for the receipt of TEFAP
foods.126

Worksheet,” April 17, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/disaster/pandemic/covid-19/tefap-ffcra-allocation-
worksheet;USDA, FNS, “Fiscal Year 2021 Food and Administrative Funding for The Emergency Food Assistance
Program,” February 16, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/fiscal-year-2021-funding; and USDA, FNS, “FY2022
USDA Explanatory Notes – Food and Nutrition Service,” p. 34-129, https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/
documents/34FNS2022Notes.pdf.
121 P.L. 116-136, Division B, Title 1, “Office of the Secretary”; USDA, FNS, “TEFAP: Allocation of Supplemental
Food and Administrative Funds from Division B of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES
Act),” August 4, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/allocation-cares-act-build-back-better.
122 USDA, AMS, “Pre-Solicitation Announcement for Cares Act TEFAP Purchase Plan,” August 18, 2021,
https://www.ams.usda.gov/content/cares-act-tefap-purchase-plan-pre-solicitation-announcement; and USDA, FNS,
“TEFAP Fresh Produce,” March 30, 2021, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/fresh-produce.
123 P.L. 117-2, §1001(b)(4); and USDA, “USDA Establishes Food Purchase Program to Transform the Food System,
Build Back Better via Local Food Purchase,” December 6, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/12/
06/usda-establishes-food-purchase-program-transform-food-system-build.
124 USDA, FNS, “The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Reach and Resiliency Grants: Fiscal Year 2022
Request for Applications (RFA),” CFDA 10.568, December 6, 2021, https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-
opportunity.html?oppId=336843.
125 USDA, FNS, “TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grant Initiative,” https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/reach-resiliency-
grant.
126 USDA, FNS, “Questions and Answers related to COVID-19 and the Emergency Food Assistance Program
(TEFAP),” May 22, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tefap/covid-19-qas.
Congressional Research Service

29

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program
While not a TEFAP program, but intended to support local feeding organizations, USDA also announced in
December 2021 that it would use $400 mil ion in ARPA funding for a new Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA)
cooperative agreement (noncompetitive) program administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).127
This program is to fund state and tribal governments in making local and regional food purchases from socially
disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.128 Foods are to be delivered to underserved communities, with the help of
nonprofit organizations when desired, including communities not served by traditional food distribution networks
like TEFAP.129
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
The CARES Act provided $100 million to the FDPIR, of which $50 million was for facility
improvements and equipment upgrades and $50 million was for the costs related to additional
food purchases. USDA obligated these funds in FY2020 and FY2021.130
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
In addition to the annual funding provided, the FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act
included $13 million in supplemental funding for CSFP, available through FY2021.131 Up to 20%
of the funding is available for state administrative expenses.
ARPA provided $37 million for CSFP, to remain available through FY2022.132
Other USDA Initiatives
In addition to using existing nutrition assistance programs, USDA carried out two new programs
to feed people during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Farmers to Families Food Box program,
which provided food boxes to individuals and households, and the Emergency Meals to You
program, which provided food boxes to households with school-aged children. Both programs
used funding provided in the COVID-19 pandemic response laws (discussed further below). FNS
also activated Disaster Household Distribution programs in certain states and tribal nations during
the early months of the pandemic.

127 P.L. 117-2, §1001(b)(4); and USDA, “USDA Establishes Food Purchase Program to Transform the Food System,
Build Back Better via Local Food Purchase,” December 6, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/12/
06/usda-establishes-food-purchase-program-transform-food-system-build.
128 For the purposes of LFPA, USDA defines local and regional food as a distance of no more than 400 miles between
the producer and delivery destination, or where the product is distributed in the same state, territory, or tribal land in
which it originates. Similar definitions have been used in other USDA programs, including the Business and Industry
(B&I) loan program, which has a definition of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products codified at 7
U.S.C. §1932.
129 USDA, AMS, “Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA): Fiscal Year 2022
Request for Applications,” December 6, 2021, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/LFPA_RFA.pdf.
130 USDA, FNS, “2023 USDA Budget Explanatory Notes,” p. “35-88,” https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/
documents/35-2023-FNS.pdf.
131 P.L. 116-260, Division N, Title VII, §712.
132 P.L. 117-2, §1104.
Congressional Research Service

30

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Farmers to Families Food Box Program
AMS, in consultation with FNS, operated the Farmers to Families Food Box program from May
2020 to May 2021.133
On April 17, 2020, USDA announced a Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide
direct relief to farmers and ranchers for lost commodities markets.134 A smaller part of CFAP was
a new program, the Farmers to Families Food Box program, to facilitate the distribution of in-
kind foods to households during the pandemic. Specifically, the program provided fresh fruits and
vegetables, dairy, and meat products from local and regional suppliers to public and nonprofit
organizations, including food banks, schools, tribal organizations, and faith-based
organizations.135 The stated goals of the program were to expedite federally sponsored food
deliveries to food banks and other feeding organizations and to “sell food previously destined for
restaurants and bulk purchasers to distributors, preventing waste.”136
Unlike other USDA nutrition assistance programs, state agencies did not play a direct role in the
administration of the Farmers to Families Food Box program.137 Instead, AMS awarded contracts
directly to suppliers through a solicitation process. According to the terms of the contracts,
suppliers packaged products into “family-sized boxes” and distributed the boxes to food banks
and other recipient organizations selected by the supplier.138 Recipient organizations were
nonprofits with 501(c)(3) tax exemption status or local government agencies that could
“demonstrate that they have the operational and financial capability to receive, store and
distribute requested food items.”139 Nonprofit recipients also agreed to serve only “needy people,
or the food insecure population.”140 Contents of the boxes differed over time, but included fresh
fruit and vegetables, dairy products, fluid milk, precooked meats (initially pork and poultry, and
later beef and seafood), or a combination of these items.141
The Biden Administration ended the Farmers to Families Food Box program on May 31, 2021.142
Over the course of the program, USDA allocated approximately $6 billion on five separate rounds

133 USDA, AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-
families-food-box, accessed on August 3, 2021.
134 For more information on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, see CRS Report R46347, COVID-19, U.S.
Agriculture, and USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP); and CRS Report R46348, COVID-19:
Supply Chain Disruptions in the U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Industry: In Brief.
135 USDA, “USDA Announces Coronavirus Food Assistance Program,” April 17, 2020, https://www.usda.gov/media/
press-releases/2020/04/17/usda-announces-coronavirus-food-assistance-program.
136 USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), “Farmers to Families Food Box Infographic,”
https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/FarmerstoFamiliesFoodBox.pdf; USDA, AMS webinar on April
21, 2020, recording available at https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box.
137 See CRS Report R42353, Domestic Food Assistance: Summary of Programs.
138 USDA, AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-
families-food-box, accessed on August 3, 2021.
139 USDA, AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box Program FAQs,” April 27, 2020, https://www.ams.usda.gov/
publications/content/farmers-families-food-box-program-faqs.
140 USDA, AMS, Solicitation 12-3J14-20-B-0588, p. 30, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/
FFFB_solicitationRound3.pdf.
141 USDA, AMS, Solicitation AG-12-3J14-20-R-0377, April 24, 2020, p. 5, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/
files/media/RFP_ERAcquisition.pdf; USDA, “USDA Announces Continuation of the Farmers to Families Food Box
Program, Fifth Round of Food Purchases,” January 4, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/01/04/
usda-announces-continuation-farmers-families-food-box-program-fifth.
142 USDA, AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-
families-food-box, accessed on August 3, 2021. The Administration also communicated its intentions to apply “lessons
Congressional Research Service

31

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

of contracts and deliveries. That includes $4 billion in funding for the first three rounds of the
program funded under FFCRA, which gave the Secretary of Agriculture “such amounts as are
necessary” to “purchase commodities for emergency distribution in any area of the United States
during a public health emergency designation” in FY2020.143 Actual expenditures were closer to
$3.57 billion, which funded 120.5 million food boxes distributed between May 2020 and October
31, 2020.144 On October 23, 2020, USDA announced $500 million for a fourth round of awards
under the program for deliveries through December 31, 2020, funded with unobligated funds
from the CARES Act.145 Actual expenditures for the fourth round were approximately $463
million, which funded 12.4 million food boxes.146 The fifth round of the program, announced on
January 4, 2021, used $1.4 billion in FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act funds and
sponsored deliveries through the end of May 2021.147
Emergency Meals to You
FNS created and operated the Emergency Meals to You program from March 2020 to August
2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.148 Modeled off the Summer Meals-to-You
demonstration, the Emergency Meals to You program worked with private partners (Baylor
University’s Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, and PepsiCo) to mail food
boxes to children in participating school districts in rural areas nationwide who would normally
receive free or reduced-price school meals but were not receiving them due to an emergency
school closure.149 School districts were eligible to participate in Emergency Meals to You if they

learned” from the food box program into future activities, including announcing a fresh produce box option through
TEFAP.
143 P.L. 116-127, Division A, Title I, §1101(g). Section 1108 of ARPA subsequently reauthorized open-ended funding
under Section 1101(g) of FFCRA for USDA to purchase and distribute commodities during a public health emergency.
USDA, AMS, “Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA); Purchase of Fruit, Vegetable, Dairy, and Meat Products Due to
COVID-19 National Emergency-USDA Food Box Distribution Program,” 85 Federal Register 23325, April 27, 2020,
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/27/2020-08979/notice-of-funds-availability-nofa-purchase-of-
fruit-vegetable-dairy-and-meat-products-due-to.
144 Data as of January 11, 2021. USDA, AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-
food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box, accessed on August 3, 2021.
145 USDA, “USDA Announces Fourth Round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program,” Release No. 0429.20,
October 23, 2020, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/10/23/usda-announces-fourth-round-farmers-
families-food-box-program. According to CRS correspondence with AMS on November 19, 2020, the fourth round of
purchases is funded from unobligated funds under the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136), Division B, Agricultural Programs,
Office of the Secretary that were previously available for payments to farmers in another part of the CFAP.
146 USDA AMS, “Farmers to Families Food Box,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-
food-box, accessed on August 3, 2021.
147 USDA, “USDA Announces Continuation of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, Fifth Round of Food
Purchases,” January 4, 2021, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/01/04/usda-announces-continuation-
farmers-families-food-box-program-fifth. The funding authority for the fifth round of purchases was P.L. 116-260,
Division N, Title VII, §751; expenditures as provided by USDA, AMS, on August 4, 2021.
148 According to FNS, the Emergency Meals to You demonstration was established using authority from Section 749(g)
of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2010 (P.L. 111-80) and Section 2202(a) of FFCRA (P.L. 116-127). CRS correspondence with USDA, FNS, on July 24,
2020. For a list of school districts that participated in Emergency Meals to You by state, see Mealstoyou.org,
“Emergency Meals-to-You School Districts,” https://mealstoyou.org/emergency-meals-to-you-school-districts-2/.
149 USDA, “USDA Meals to You Partnership Delivers Nearly 30 Million Meals,” July 16, 2020,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-032420; USDA, FNS, “Meals to You Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs),”
https://mealstoyou.org/emtyfaqs/. For more information on the Summer Meals-to-You program, see CRS In Focus
IF11633, Summer Meals for Children: An Overview of Federal Aid.
Congressional Research Service

32

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) participated in the NSLP, (2) had at least 50% of students qualified for free or reduced-priced
meals (or participated in the Community Eligibility Provision [CEP]), (3) were closed for at least
four weeks, and (4) were located in a rural area.150 Households with eligible children that signed
up for the program were to receive a box containing 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches, including a
combination of shelf-stable items, every two weeks by mail.151 Total expenditures were
approximately $123 million, which FNS said funded more than 40 million meals delivered to
approximately 400,000 children across the United States.152
Disaster Household Distribution
During a presidentially declared disaster or emergency, states may be able to repurpose existing
local inventories of USDA Foods intended for other nutrition assistance programs (e.g., TEFAP
and NSLP) for disaster/emergency feeding efforts.153 Under one program option, Disaster
Household Distribution, USDA may approve requests from states and tribes to repurpose USDA
Foods for direct distribution to households in areas affected by an emergency or disaster.154
USDA later replenishes or reimburses federal nutrition assistance programs for USDA Foods
reprogrammed for disaster/emergency feeding during a presidentially declared disaster or
emergency.155 Disaster Household Distribution facilitates faster distribution to households by
reducing administrative requirements (e.g., removing eligibility determinations); however, it
temporarily results in lower USDA Foods inventory for other federal nutrition assistance
programs.
Following the presidential emergency declaration for COVID-19, USDA approved requests from
21 states, Guam, and 33 tribal nations to operate Disaster Household Distribution programs
during the early months of the pandemic.156 These approvals had different timeframes but
typically ended by July 2020.

150 Ibid.
151 Sample items include “Protein: Milk, Chicken Salad, Hummus, Beef Stick, Bean Dip, Cheese, Sunflower Kernels;
Whole Grains: Tortilla Chips, Corn Chips, Crackers, Oatmeal Bars, Cereal; Vegetables: Salsa Cup, Marinara Cup,
100% Veg/Fruit Juice; Fruit: Applesauce, Raisins, Craisins, Fruit Cup, 100% Fruit Juice.”
152 CRS correspondence with FNS in February 2021; USDA, “Secretary Perdue Applauds USDA’s 2020
Accomplishments,” December 16, 2020, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/12/16/secretary-perdue-
applauds-usdas-2020-accomplishments.
153 For more information on Disaster Household Distribution and related USDA emergency food distribution options,
see CRS Report R46432, Food Banks and Other Emergency Feeding Organizations: Federal Aid and the Response to
COVID-19.
154 7 C.F.R. §250.69; USDA, FNS, Food Distribution Division, “USDA Foods Program Disaster Manual,” revised
September 2017, https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/fdd/disaster-manual.pdf.
155 7 C.F.R. §250.69(g).
156 USDA, FNS, “Disaster Household Distribution,” June 11, 2020, https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-foods/covid-19-
disaster-household-distribution.
Congressional Research Service

33

USDA Nutrition Assistance Programs: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author Information

Randy Alison Aussenberg
Gene Falk
Specialist in Nutrition Assistance Policy
Specialist in Social Policy

Kara Clifford Billings

Analyst in Social Policy

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or
material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to
copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

Congressional Research Service
R46681 · VERSION 14 · UPDATED
34

Download PDF

Download EPUB

Revision History

Jan. 24, 2023

HTML · PDF

2% changed

Aug. 5, 2022

HTML · PDF

5% changed

Apr. 18, 2022

HTML · PDF

1% changed