As Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs work to provide nourishing food to our neighbors in need, farmers continue to support food banks to meet the increased need.
That’s why, as we celebrate National Ag Day 2022, we want to thank farmers for their steadfast commitment to families facing hunger. Farmers and ranchers deserve our appreciation every day, particularly as they lend their voice, labor, land, and food to fight to end hunger daily. We also know National Ag Day is a special way to give thanks. National Ag Day recognizes today’s farmers while also helping to inspire the next generation of farmers and ag champions — the people we will need to sustain our mission to feed those in need in our country.
But farmers and farm organizations don’t only provide food: they are some of our nation’s strongest advocates for increasing food donations that help address hunger. Farmers can be very effective partners for organizations like ours to make the case to policymakers that no family should face hunger when our nation is capable of producing high-quality, nutritious food. Most notably, farmers and farm organizations convey the need for food donations that help food banks feed neighbors in need through programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
States then work with Feeding America member food banks, and other emergency food providers, to distribute the food to households in need along with other nourishing foods provided by food banks. It’s a program that doesn’t work without the commitment of farmers and is yet another reminder that the charitable food sector cannot do the work of feeding the nation alone.