WASHINGTON, D.C. – USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a statement Jan. 21 highlighting key accomplishments to promote food and nutrition security at the agency since the Biden-Harris administration took office on Jan. 20, 2021. “2021 again offered unparalleled challenges to Americans and institutions like the USDA dedicated to serving them in whatever circumstances they may face – most especially hunger and nutrition insecurity,” Vilsack said. “The scale of these trials is only rivaled by the magnitude of the efforts that the Biden-Harris administration and the USDA have undertaken to meet them.” Over the past year, millions have continued struggling to make ends meet, to feed themselves and their families. USDA has taken steps to not only increase benefits through the host of programs available to assist those in need, but to expand access to those programs and reach out to those that have been historically underserved. Key USDA accomplishments during 2021 include: • Re-evaluated the Thrifty Food Plan, increasing SNAP purchasing power by 21 percent, better supporting a healthy diet. • Worked with school food service workers to issue 19 types of waivers to ensure school cafeterias had the flexibility they needed to keep serving 35 million children across the country every school day, and over the summer, while contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. • Expanded pandemic-EBT, increasing benefits by approximately 15 percent and delivering almost $42 billion in benefits for nearly 33 million low-income and food insecure children that missed out on free meals when schools were closed. • Increased emergency SNAP benefits by $1 billion for 25 million Americans in the lowest-income households. • Invested $1.5 billion to support the purchases of agricultural commodities to help school nutrition professionals make sure students have reliable access to healthy meals. • Adjusted school meal reimbursements by an estimated $750 million to help schools serve children during the rise in food prices. • Increased food assistance by $37 million to low-income seniors through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. • Announced an investment of $1 billion to purchase healthy food for food insecure Americans and build food bank capacity. • Provided $490 million from the American Rescue Plan to incentivize the purchase of fruits and vegetables under WIC. • Invested nearly $5 million to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. • Developed algorithms to allow farmers and food inspectors to predict and identify Salmonella contamination as well as new technology to eliminate harmful microbes from fresh fruits and vegetables. • Invested more than $200 million in research, education, and innovation to tackle food and nutrition insecurity. In 2022, USDA will continue to prioritize the following objectives: • Increasing participation in WIC by modernizing the program and ensuring parents understand the value of WIC, using $390 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. • Continuing USDA’s focus on nutrition security, not just for the duration of the pandemic, but well into the future to make sure the many nutrition programs USDA offers are providing access to nutritious food for all those in need. |
