WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) led a bipartisan group of Senators to urge the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reinstate senior nutrition programs’ ability to receive bonus commodities. This will allow programs such as Meals on Wheels to better serve our nation’s seniors.

“Bonus commodities are extremely important to senior nutrition programs because they are essentially free of charge plus the price of shipping,” Senator Roberts said. “These bonus commodities allow groups that serve seniors to stretch their budget further, extending their reach to more in need, which is especially critical in this economy. We urge USDA to reinstate bonus commodities.”

“Foods that USDA is required to purchase under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, or farm bill, can help make meals in senior nutrition programs, like Meals on Wheels, more nutritious,” said Harkin. “For that reason, USDA should reexamine and ultimately change its decision to exclude these senior programs from receiving the fruits, vegetables, and nuts obtained under a farm bill provision. In addition, senior nutrition programs can make very good use of other commodities – such as the pork and dairy products USDA is acquiring off the market because of low prices. Our letter encourages USDA to deliver these ‘bonus’ commodities to help seniors as well as other federally-funded nutrition programs.”

The following letter, sent to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, was signed by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Kerry (D-MA), Paul Kirk (D-MA), and Pat Roberts (R-KS):

“We write to express our concern with the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) policy and practice regarding distribution of commodities to support congregate and home-delivered nutrition services for seniors.

“Commodities supplied by USDA are a significant component of federal assistance for senior nutrition programs, including one commonly called Meals on Wheels, that is provided through the Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP), which is administered by the Administration on Aging. In 2007, Congress passed the Older Americans Reauthorization Technical Corrections Act (P.L.110-19) in order to reinstate the option for states and other grantees to receive all or any part of their allotted NSIP funds in the form of commodities purchased and supplied directly by USDA. The technical correction bill modified a feature of the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (P.L.109-365) that had limited NSIP support to monetary amounts only, not commodities

“In addition to the basic support of senior nutrition through NSIP, USDA has longstanding authority – and a history of using it – to provide supplementary commodities to states and other grantees for senior nutrition assistance. These ‘bonus commodities’ are provided to states and grantees free of charge; recipients simply pay the price of shipping. Bonus commodities, typically purchased from the market by the Department to help alleviate surpluses, allow states to provide additional assistance to eligible seniors who otherwise might not have access to nutritious meals.

“A specific category of USDA commodity purchases is established in § 4404 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 (P.L.110-246), which requires the Department to buy not less than specified dollar amounts of fruits, vegetables, and nuts in each fiscal year ‘for the purpose of providing nutritious foods for use in domestic nutrition assistance programs…’ Meals on Wheels and other senior nutrition assistance are undoubtedly domestic nutrition assistance programs. And yet in August 2008, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) notified states that commodities obtained by USDA through §4404 of the FCEA would not be available to senior nutrition programs supported by NSIP. We are very concerned with this decision. Excluding NSIP participants from receiving bonus commodities purchased under § 4404 ignores the statutory language, which contains no such restriction, and is not supported by the legislative history of the provision.

“We urge you to rescind the August 2008 memorandum that categorically excludes senior nutrition assistance programs from support through commodities purchased under § 4404 of FCEA and strongly encourage the Department to provide these commodities to senior nutrition programs to the greatest extent it feasibly can. We also strongly encourage the Department to provide as much support to senior nutrition programs as practicable using bonus commodities purchased through channels apart from § 4404.

“Bonus commodities provide critical assistance to seniors through congregate and home-delivered nutrition services at a time when they face significant budgetary shortfalls. During these tough economic times a growing number of older adults need these nutrition programs to help them maintain their health and independent living.”

In 2007, Senator Roberts worked with Senators Kennedy and Enzi on legislation that is now law to ensure that programs like Meals on Wheels could continue to receive commodities and bonus commodities directly from the USDA through the Nutrition Services Incentive program (NSIP). At issue is USDA's Food and Nutrition Service decision that senior nutrition programs are no longer eligible for bonus commodities, ignoring the legislation passed in 2007.

Senator Roberts is co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate HELP Committee, and a member of the Senate Hunger Caucus.

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