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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, helps put food on the table for more than 1.9 million Pennsylvanians each month by providing money on an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card for food purchases at local grocery stores, farmers markets, and other authorized retailers. 

The Food Bank works to protect SNAP from funding cuts and harmful policy changes and to improve benefit adequacy. SNAP benefits are already inadequate for most families to purchase enough food to provide a healthy diet throughout the month. The Food Bank mobilizes our network as needed to advocate to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and elected officials about the importance of SNAP for families, farmers, food processors and vendors. 

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal nutrition program that moves food from farms to food banks to families facing hunger. Through TEFAP, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases nutritious food from U.S. growers and producers. Feeding America network food banks (and other emergency assistance organizations) then partner with states to distribute these USDA foods to eligible individuals and families. 

TEFAP food purchases provide a win-win for food banks, farmers, and individuals and families facing hunger. 

Known as the PA Senior Food Box Program in Pennsylvania, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) leverages government buying power to provide nutritious, domestically produced food packages to almost 40,000 eligible seniors across the state each month. CSFP boxes do not provide a complete diet but rather are strong sources of nutrients typically lacking in the normal diets of older Americans. Among the types of foods included in the food boxes are non-fat dry and shelf-stable fluid milk, juice, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, dry beans, peanut butter, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables.

Since 1983, the State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) has been Pennsylvania’s most important tool in the public-private fight against hunger. SFPP provides funding to all 67 counties to help charitable food organizations with the purchase of foods and nutritional supplements, food provider transportation and infrastructure, and access to federal food commodities.

SFPP Policy Priorities
1. Boost funding for SFPP to $37 million in the next state budget to help emergency food providers respond to the demand from our neighbors in need. This increase accounts for elevated food purchasing costs and the number of Pennsylvanians eligible for the program.

Each year, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) rescues millions of pounds of nutritious foods from local farmers and provides it to food banks throughout the Commonwealth to distribute to food insecure households. The program works by offsetting the costs of harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting food grown or raised in Pennsylvania, creating additional supply with food that would otherwise go to waste and supports our agricultural partners.

PASS Policy Priorities
1. Invest in the PASS program by increasing funding to $11 million in the next state budget. This will help local farmers and food banks recover from recent reductions in federal funding for local food procurement.

Throughout Pennsylvania, all children attending schools that participate in the National School Breakfast Program receive free breakfast and students eligible for reduced-price lunch in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program receive their meal at no-cost. This is made possible through state funding and, in the absence of federal action, should be built upon to achieve universal school meals for all Pennsylvania students.

School Meals for All Policy Priorities
1. Extend universal lunch to all K-12 students by utilizing a multi-year Community Eligibility Provision approach to reduce childhood hunger, eliminate school lunch debt, and ensure that schools have enough funding to cover the costs of healthy meals for all children.

Supported by the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and other funding streams, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County utilize these funds to provide grants to Food Bank partners for the distribution of food to eligible neighbors.

Hunger Services Grants Policy Priorities
1. Continue to advocate for a strong commitment of funds from Allegheny County, City of Pittsburgh, and other local governments to support Food Bank partners in local communities.

شهر پیتسبورگ یک صندوق عدالت غذایی 3 میلیون دلاری برای حمایت از ذینفعان سیستم غذایی محلی ما، از جمله تولید کنندگان، تولید کنندگان، خرده فروشان و ارائه دهندگان ایجاد کرده است. این صندوق کمک های مالی را به افراد، سازمان ها و کسب و کارها در جوامعی که بیشتر تحت تاثیر نابرابری در دسترسی به مواد غذایی مقرون به صرفه و سالم قرار دارند، ارائه می دهد.

Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund Policy Priorities
1. Explore opportunities for sustained funding for the Food Justice Fund to support local feeding organizations and food access points.

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) provides financial support for low- and moderate-income households by offering tax relief to millions of families with children under the age of 17. Eligibility to claim the credit is based on income, filing status, and the number of qualifying children. The CTC is partially refundable, meaning some families can receive a refund even if their tax bill is low or zero. The CTC was temporarily expanded during the pandemic, which cut child poverty and food insecurity.

CTC Policy Priorities
1. Secure a permanent federal Child Tax Credit that increases the maximum credit amount, expands access by ensuring full refundability, provides monthly advanced payments, and restores eligibility for 17-year-olds and children with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit available to eligible workers with low-to-moderate incomes. The EITC is provided to individuals and families once a year, in a lump-sum payment after individuals and families file their federal income tax returns. The amount of the EITC depends on a recipient’s income, marital status, and number of children. The EITC was temporarily expanded during the pandemic, which helped working families afford the cost of living.

EITC Policy Priorities
1. Restore the provisions of the expanded EITC and make them permanent under law.

The Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) is a tax credit program which encourages businesses to invest in projects that improve the quality of life of Pennsylvanians. This initiative has enabled the private sector to donate millions of dollars to community organizations while substantially reducing their tax burden. The Charitable Food Program (CFP) component of NAP (one of four) is focused on improving food security in Pennsylvania. CFP assists charitable programs that provide food to low-income populations in distressed areas by providing donors with a tax credit of up to 65 percent.

NAP Policy Priorities
1. Protect and expand NAP funding while also reducing the amount of administrative barriers for donors.

Pennsylvania does not apply its sales tax to most grocery items for at-home consumption. Proposals to reform state taxes have frequently included provisions that would cut or eliminate property taxes and instead increase sales taxes and/or broaden the goods and services subject to the to levy. Applying the sales tax to food would increase grocery costs for our neighbors at a time when the impact of inflation remains high.

Sales Tax Policy Priorities
1. Oppose any efforts to expand Pennsylvania’s sales tax to include grocery items.