HR7144-119

What This Bill Does

The Food Rescue Act amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to add a national food rescue system run by the Secretary of Agriculture through the Food and Nutrition Service. The system coordinates recovery, processing, transportation, and distribution of surplus or donated food. It directs food rescue organizations to identify excess food from agricultural, retail, manufacturing, and distribution sources; partner with food banks, food recovery networks, front-line emergency food providers, local agencies, logistics providers, and governments; expand aggregation sites, transportation, cold-chain storage, and last-mile delivery; use technology platforms that match surplus food with recipients in real time; and provide technical assistance. USDA must establish a competitive grant program, and applications must describe expected pounds of food recovered, households served, participating producers or distributors, budgets, implementation timelines, and delivery plans. A conforming amendment keeps Farm-to-Food Bank funds separate from the new section 216 appropriation.

Who Benefits and How

Food-insecure households benefit because more surplus food can move through emergency feeding channels instead of going to waste. Food banks, food rescue organizations, food recovery networks, front-line emergency food providers, and local agencies benefit from competitive grant funding for transportation, cold-chain storage, processing, repackaging, technology, personnel, equipment, and operations. Agricultural producers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and logistics providers benefit from a clearer federally supported pathway for donating or redirecting excess food. USDA Food Nutrition Service staff benefit from a defined statutory framework for coordinating food rescue with existing TEFAP and Farm-to-Food Bank work.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal taxpayers bear the cost of whatever sums Congress appropriates for the grant program. USDA Food Nutrition Service grant staff must design competitions, review applications, monitor budgets, collect impact estimates, coordinate with TEFAP and Farm-to-Food Bank programs, and oversee eligible uses. Food rescue organizations must prepare applications, identify partners, document pounds recovered and households served, manage cold-chain and last-mile logistics, and comply with federal grant rules. Producers, retailers, distributors, and logistics partners may incur coordination, storage, transportation, and reporting costs when they participate.

Key Provisions

• Creates a USDA national food rescue system for recovery, processing, transport, and distribution of surplus donated food.
• Authorizes competitive grants for food rescue operations, cold-chain logistics, storage, repackaging, technology, personnel, equipment, and administration.
• Requires applicants to describe expected pounds recovered, households served, partners, budgets, timelines, and surplus-food delivery plans.
• Directs USDA coordination with TEFAP, the Farm-to-Food Bank Project, and other food-loss reduction work.
• Excludes new section 216 funds from the Farm-to-Food Bank appropriation reference.