I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1254

To encourage and assist producers, processors, and other handlers of agricultural commodities to donate edible, but unmarketable, agricultural commodities to food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1993

Miss COLLINS of Michigan (for herself, Mr. STOKES, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms.

NORTON, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. WHEAT, Mr. CONYERS,

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois, Ms. WATERS, and Mr. CLYBURN) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To encourage and assist producers, processors, and other

handlers of agricultural commodities to donate edible,

but unmarketable, agricultural commodities to food

banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PROGRAM TO

2 ENCOURAGE AND ASSIST THE DONATION OF

3 AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES UNMARKET4 ABLE UNDER MARKETING ORDERS.

5 (a) DONATION PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Agri6 culture shall establish a program to encourage and assist

7 producers, processors, and other handlers of agricultural

8 commodities described in subsection (b) to donate such

9 commodities to selected food banks, soup kitchens, and

10 homeless shelters in the United States to assist the home11 less and needy.

12 (b) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES FOR DONATION.—

13 The agricultural commodities eligible for donation under

14 the program established under subsection (a) are agricul15 tural commodities that, while still fit for human consump16 tion, are unmarketable because of grade, size, or quality

17 restrictions imposed by a marketing order issued under

18 section 8c of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (reenacted

19 with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agree20 ment Act of 1937) (7 U.S.C. 608c) or by a marketing

21 order or plan issued under another law relating to the re22 search and promotion of a specific agricultural commodity.

23 (c) SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary of

24 Agriculture may enter into agreements with producers,

25 processors, and other handlers of agricultural commodities

26 described in subsection (b) who offer to make such com-
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1 modities available for donation under the program estab2 lished under subsection (a). As part of such an agreement,

3 the Secretary may agree to pay all or part of the costs

4 incurred to harvest, handle, package, or process the agri5 cultural commodity to be donated if the Secretary deter6 mines that—

7 (1) the commodity would likely not be har8 vested, handled, packaged, or processed in the ab9 sence of the payment; and

10 (2) volunteer harvesters or voluntary handling,

11 packaging, or processing services are unavailable or

12 unfeasible.

13 (d) ELIGIBLE FOOD BANKS, SOUP KITCHENS, AND

14 HOMELESS SHELTERS.—

15 (1) NOMINATION BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—

16 Local governments in a State may nominate food

17 banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters for se18 lection to receive agricultural commodities under the

19 program established under subsection (a). The nomi20 nations shall be submitted to the State official ap21 pointed by the chief executive of the State to receive

22 such nominations.

23 (2) STATE PLAN.—The State official referred to

24 in paragraph (1) shall prepare a donation plan for

25 the State based upon the nominations submitted
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1 under such paragraph. The official shall submit the

2 plan to the Secretary of Agriculture at such times

3 as the Secretary may require.

4 (3) SELECTION BY SECRETARY.—Based upon

5 the agricultural commodities and funds available for

6 the program for a year, the Secretary of Agriculture

7 shall review the submitted plans and select food

8 banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters in each

9 State to receive agricultural commodities under the

10 program. If the State official referred to in para11 graph (1) is not appointed for a State, the Secretary

12 may establish an alternative method for the selection

13 of food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters

14 in that State to receive agricultural commodities

15 under the program.

16 (4) CONSULTATION.—The nomination and se17 lection of food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless

18 shelters under this subsection should be made after

19 consultation with nonprofit organizations serving the

20 homeless and needy and with other interested per21 sons.

22 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF DONATED AGRICULTURAL

23 COMMODITIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in con24 sultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall enter

25 into contracts with persons to collect, store, and distribute
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1 agricultural commodities made available for donation

2 under the program established under subsection (a). Con3 tracts under this subsection shall be awarded on a com4 petitive basis and may be for such term as the Secretary

5 of Agriculture considers to be appropriate.

6 (f) FUNDS FOR PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Agri7 culture shall use funds available for the purposes of sec8 tion 32 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Agricul9 tural Adjustment Act, and for other purposes.’’, approved

10 August 24, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 612c), to carry out the pro11 gram established under subsection (a), including the cost

12 of contracts entered into under subsection (e). Notwith13 standing any other provision of such section, the amount

14 devoted to this program for a fiscal year shall be equal

15 to at least 25 percent of the unobligated balance remain16 ing under such section at the end of the preceding fiscal

17 year.

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

19 (1) The term ‘‘food bank’’ means a public or

20 charitable institution that maintains an established

21 operation involving the provision of food or edible

22 commodities, or the products of food or edible com23 modities, to food pantries, soup kitchens, hunger re24 lief centers, or other food or feeding centers that
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1 provide meals or food to homeless or needy individ2 uals on a regular basis.

3 (2) The term ‘‘soup kitchen’’ means a public or

4 charitable institution that maintains an established

5 feeding operation to provide meals for individuals

6 and families who do not have access to food and who

7 are nutritionally at risk, such as the homeless, the

8 elderly, and the impoverished.

9 (3) The term ‘‘homeless shelter’’ means a public

10 or charitable institution that maintains an estab11 lished feeding operation to provide meals to homeless

12 or needy individuals as part of a regular program to

13 provide shelter, bedding, health care services, drug

14 and alcohol abuse counseling, or occupational train15 ing to such individuals.

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