{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221091025/http://www.reed.senate.gov/news/release/reed-calls-for-more-robust-funding-to-support-food-banks", "Reed Calls for More Robust Funding to Support Food Banks", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Tuesday, November 26, 2013\n             Reed Calls for More Robust Funding to Support Food Banks \n            \n            \n            PROVIDENCE, RI -- In an effort to ensure food banks in Rhode Island and across the country are able to help vulnerable families, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is calling on Congress to listen to the needs of the hungry.\u00a0 Reed is seeking to strengthen the federal nutrition safety net in the Farm Bill.\u00a0 Today, Reed and 25 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to key Farm Bill negotiators urging them to support a level of funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) that will keep pace with the demand for emergency food relief.\n\u201cCongress needs to do more to help thousands of hungry Rhode Islanders meet basic nutritional needs and alleviate hunger,\u201d said Reed.\u00a0 \u201cOur food banks are working overtime to feed hungry people in the communities they serve, but they\u2019re already stretched thin. \u00a0I urge bipartisan support for our nation\u2019s emergency food assistance network in the Farm Bill.\u00a0 Instead of just shifting the burden to local food banks, Congress needs to work together to improve the economy and provide cost-effective resources to support programs like TEFAP.\u201d\nTEFAP is a means-tested federal program that provides food commodities through organizations like food banks, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters.\u00a0 TEFAP helps feed children, seniors, and families at risk of hunger and poor nutrition by enabling the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase surplus foods from American farmers and ship it to states with high rates of unemployment and low-income families.\u00a0 State agencies administer the program and leverage the funding by partnering with local organizations to distribute the TEFAP commodities and storage and distribution funding with private donations of food, infrastructure, and manpower.\nLast year, Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee, helped secure $311 million overall for TEFAP, and Rhode Island received approximately $1.4 million.\u00a0 This year, Reed is seeking to increase mandatory funding for TEFAP resources under the Farm Bill by $330 million per year for over the next ten years.\nAccording to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank\u2019s newly released 2013 Status Report on Hunger, 68,000 people visit food banks around Rhode Island each month, an increase of 1,000 people over last year.\u00a0\nOverall, the Senate version of the Farm Bill would cut $4.1 billion in nutrition assistance over the next 10 years from programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), while the House version would cut nearly $40 billion over the same period.\n\u201cThe severe SNAP cuts recommended by the House can\u2019t be easily made up by food banks and other charitable organizations.\u00a0 In fact, it will put even more of a strain on these programs,\u201d said Reed, who earlier this year signed a letter to Farm Bill negotiators urging them to protect SNAP from funding cuts and harmful policy changes.\u00a0 \u201cInstead of reducing hunger assistance for vulnerable Americans we should be reducing wasteful subsidies for big agribusinesses.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221091025/http://www.reed.senate.gov/news/release/reed-calls-for-more-robust-funding-to-support-food-banks"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1341610699892044, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}