LEVERAGING THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE

 TO PROMOTE AND ELEVATE NUTRITION SECURITY:

The Role of the USDA 

Food and Nutrition Service

Tom Vilsack

Secretary, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture

Dear FNS Stakeholders:

On the heels of the second, historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, this is a wonderful opportunity 

to celebrate the work of the Food and Nutrition Service in reducing hunger, increasing healthy eating, and reducing disparities. 

I am humbled by how much this agency has accomplished and by how much potential it has to improve the health and wellbeing of our fellow Americans, especially children. 

As Secretary of one of the greatest Departments in our Federal government, I have the privilege to hear from children, families, 

and program administrators how important our programs are to helping them put food on the table each and every day, 

especially during these tough economic times. Without question, we administer powerful tools to tackle food and nutrition 

insecurity and we have leveraged every tool at our disposal and applied creative solutions to meet the moment. We do this with 

the support of the White House, with the needed authorities and appropriations from Congress, in lockstep with our partners 

in State, Tribal, U.S. Territories, and local government, and along with the critical front-line work that occurs at WIC agencies, 

school districts, and food banks across the country. I am truly impressed with our increased efforts to meet our participants 

or potential participants where they are, and our efforts to design or modify our programs to be more inclusive of historically 

underserved populations. Our work makes a difference—each of you make a difference. 

Now we enter an equally important phase of leveraging the momentum of this monumental Conference and the National 

Strategy. As I explained when launching our Department’s game-changing nutrition security initiative in March 2022 and during 

our launch of transformative food systems investments in June 2022, we are prioritizing nutrition security because of the 

pandemic and our Administration’s goal to advance racial equity. At USDA, we recognize promoting food and nutrition security 

is a critical ingredient to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring racial equity, and we humbly acknowledge that 

our Department plays a fundamental role in our nation’s ability to leverage all our powerful tools to pursue that goal.

The White House is leading bold actions to address hunger, diet-related diseases, and health disparities. The enclosed report 

highlights how the Food and Nutrition Service, in collaboration with all of USDA, is continuing its important work and leveraging 

the momentum of the Conference. As the President emphasized during the Conference, we cannot do this alone. I am pushing 

us at USDA and each of you to do more and to do better to help all children in this country thrive. I encourage each of you in 

your professional positions and in all the other roles you play—grandparent, parent, primary care provider, daughter, son, friend, 

among others—to lean in. Even if you think it’s a small step—they all add up.

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of you for your work—especially during the pandemic—and as we call on you in 

the coming weeks to take bolder steps to help us end hunger, reduce diet-related diseases, and accelerate progress on health 

equity. We are genuinely grateful for all you do and open to ways we can help you. 

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Vilsack

Secretary

Office of the Secretary

Washington, D.C. 20250
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service 

(FNS) has had a long history of helping to end hunger, reduce diet-related 

diseases, and accelerate health equity.1 This report explains who we are, who we 

serve, highlights key work underway, and how we aim to leverage the second, 

historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health recently hosted 

by the Biden Administration on September 28, 2022.2 It also touches on the role of 

the first White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health in 1969, as well as 

our key accomplishments during the COVID-19 pandemic.3

2
Who We Are

At FNS, we work to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a 

suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs, which serve 1 in 4 Americans 

over the course of a year (see table).4 We accomplish this by partnering with 

over 175 States, U.S. Territories, and Tribal organizations that operate our Federal 

nutrition programs. In fiscal year 2022, the budget for these programs totaled $163 

billion.5 Typically, they represent more than 70 percent of USDA’s budget; however, 

due to increased authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal nutrition 

assistance programs currently represent an even higher percentage.5

The Federal nutrition assistance programs aim to provide children and incomeeligible people access to safe, nutritious, and equitable food, along with nutrition 

education and promotion resources to help individuals, families, and communities eat 

healthfully.6 Our nutrition assistance programs reach tens of millions of Americans, 

including more than 41 million Americans through the Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP), more than 30 million children each school day through 

our National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs (NSLP/SBP), and nearly half of 

all infants in the United States through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program 

for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).4 Across all of our programs, we prioritize 

program integrity to ensure strong stewardship of Federal funds.7

The USDA FNS Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), in partnership 

with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, develops the Dietary 

Guidelines for Americans every 5 years based on the latest nutrition science and 

recommendations. CNPP also translates the guidelines into consumer-friendly 

information through MyPlate.8 USDA invests more than $1 billion per year on 

nutrition education and promotion efforts across all our programs, including 

MyPlate, SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed), WIC nutrition education and counseling, 

Team Nutrition, and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).9

Evidence- and ExperienceBased Programs

FNS programs and policies are rooted in a 

strong base of evidence. Policy changes in 

our programs, such as updates to the school 

meal standards and the WIC food packages, 

are informed by the latest nutrition science 

and a rich body of research on program 

operations. Our FNS research teams in the 

Office of Policy Support (OPS) continuously 

conduct robust evaluation research and 

data analysis to understand the reach 

and impact of our programs and inform 

program improvements. In addition, our 

work is driven by the lived experiences 

of the participants we serve, our staff, 

and our stakeholders. We use on-theground experiences to inform program 

improvements and policy decisions. 

3
Our Roots:

Grown Out 

of the 1969 

White House 

Conference

In December 1969, President Richard Nixon 

held the first White House Conference on 

Food, Nutrition, and Health, to convene 

experts around “how the private food market 

might be used to improve the nutritional 

status of Americans, and how Federal food 

programs could be improved.” Over 3,000 

people attended the 1969 Conference, and the 

resulting recommendations were informed by 

stakeholders and experts across academia, 

medicine, agriculture, industrial and consumer 

4
trade groups, non-profit advocacy groups, women’s organizations, 

and religious denominations. FNS traces our roots back to that 1969 

White House Conference as the Agency was established under the 

direction of President Nixon on August 8, 1969, just a few months 

ahead of that historic first Conference. At the time, FNS was charged 

with administering a growing suite of Federal food and nutrition 

assistance programs aimed at eradicating hunger and malnutrition. A 

number of the key flagship programs and activities FNS administers 

today were established or expanded due to the recommendations 

from the 1969 Conference. Most notably, this includes:

•	 Significant expansions to Food Stamps (now known as SNAP), 

increasing the number of Americans served from 2 million in 

1968 to 11 million by 1971,

•	 Increasing the reach of the National School Lunch Program 

(NSLP), which served 2 million children before the Conference 

and expanded to serving 8 million by 1971,

•	 Permanent authorization of the National School Breakfast 

Program in 1975, which was also inspired by The Black Panther 

Party’s Free Breakfast for School Children Program, started in 

1969,

•	 Authorization of the pilot for the Supplemental Feeding Program 

for Women, Infants, and Children in 1972, which later became the 

WIC we know today, and 

•	 Setting the stage for the development of the Dietary Guidelines 

for Americans, which serve as the cornerstone for Federal 

nutrition assistance programs and the basis of MyPlate.

Prioritizing Equity

USDA is committed to working across all 

its agencies to tackle inequities in nutrition 

and health outcomes and address barriers in 

access to our programs that may perpetuate 

existing inequities. For examples, we 

recently launched the Indigenous Food 

Sovereignty Initiative to promote Tribal 

food sovereignty and ensure Indigenous 

perspectives shape our policies going 

forward. We are also working to improve 

our reach in underserved remote and 

rural communities through USDA’s The 

Emergency Food Assistance Program 

(TEFAP) Reach and Resiliency grants and 

are engaging with key advocacy groups to 

learn about how our emergency feeding 

networks can meet the needs of those 

keeping kosher or following Halal. 

5
In 2021, around 10.2 percent 

of American households 

experienced food insecurity.

6
Who We Serve

Poor nutrition is a leading cause of illness in the United States, associated 

with more than half a million deaths per year.10 Food and nutrition insecurity, 

hunger, and diet-related diseases disproportionately affect certain groups. In 

2021, around 10.2 percent of American households experienced food insecurity, 

with significantly higher rates among Black (19.8 percent) and Hispanic (16.2 

percent) households, households with children (12.5 percent), and households 

with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold (26.5 percent).11 While 

there are some signs of incremental improvement—food insecurity declined 

from 2020 for households with children, single mothers with children, and Black 

households, among other groups—there are still considerable disparities in dietrelated diseases. The prevalence of obesity and high blood pressure is higher for 

non-Hispanic Black adults than for non-Hispanic white adults. American Indian/

Alaska Native adults have the highest prevalence of diagnosed diabetes.

12-14

Rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are rising among children, and recent 

estimates project that most children in America today will have obesity by the 

time they are 35 years old.15,16

While FNS programs support individuals and families of all backgrounds and 

at all life stages, we are especially committed to promoting nutrition security 

among eligible children and historically underserved populations.17 Many of the 

food insecurity and health disparities described above are perpetuated and 

exacerbated by barriers rooted in structural racism—particularly against Black, 

Indigenous, and Latino people.18-20 The Biden-Harris Administration places 

equity and racial justice at the top of USDA’s priorities.21 Our latest work at FNS, 

including our commitment to nutrition security described later in this report, 

applies a health equity lens to the way we improve our programs and fulfill our 

mission to address the unique and multifaceted needs of the people we serve.17

Nutrition Security

In March 2022, Agriculture Secretary Tom 

Vilsack announced USDA’s commitment to 

advancing nutrition security as a Federal 

priority. Nutrition security means having 

consistent and equitable access to safe, 

healthy, and affordable foods essential to 

optimal health and well-being. It builds on 

the Department’s longstanding efforts to 

address food insecurity with two specific 

focus areas by: (1) emphasizing the coexistence of food insecurity and diet-related 

diseases; and (2) applying an equity lens 

to our efforts. For more information on 

nutrition security, see USDA Actions of 

Nutrition Security report and associated 

infographic.

7
Keeping Food 

on the Table 

During COVID-19 

Pandemic

Like no other time in recent history, the COVID-19 pandemic 

underscored the critical importance of access to healthy food. 

In 2020, for the first time in nearly a decade, the percentage 

of households with children that were not food secure—that 

is, households that reported not always having enough food 

for all members to have an active, healthy life—increased to 

a high of nearly 15 percent. As parents lost their jobs, cities 

locked down, and schools closed, tens of millions were left 

unsure of whether they would be able to feed themselves or 

their children adequately. SNAP, which is the Nation’s first line 

of defense against hunger and designed to respond quickly, 

expanded by more than 6 million people in the first 3 months 

of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 37 million to more than 41.5 

million—an extraordinary 17-percent increase. Never before in 

history has SNAP experienced an enrollment increase of this 

magnitude. For comparison, it took 17 months after the Great 

Recession for more than 6 million people to join SNAP. 

With increased resources and expanded authorities from 

Congress, FNS worked quickly and efficiently to respond to 

the hunger crisis in cooperation with our partners in State 

and Tribal governments, U.S. Territories, local WIC agencies, 

school districts, food banks, and more. FNS leveraged every 

tool at its disposal and applied creative solutions to address 

unprecedented challenges and keep food on the table. Some of 

the agency’s key actions included:

•	 Increasing the SNAP maximum benefit amount for tens 

of millions of participants and providing Emergency 

Allotments that boosted benefits to the maximum amount 

for the household’s size. 

•	 Replacing lost school meals through Pandemic-Electronic 

Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) that provided families with 

around $35 in grocery benefits per week per eligible child.

8
•	 Rapidly expanding the ability for SNAP benefits to be used online, 

from 5 States participating in March 2020 to 49 States and the 

District of Columbia in August 2022. Over this period, the number 

of approved online retailers has also expanded dramatically from 

the 8 selected for the initial pilot to nearly 150 stores representing 

thousands of retailers—a number that will continue growing.

•	 Providing free school meals to all children.

•	 Offering flexibilities to make it easier for parents to get food for their 

children, such as the ability to pick up multiple meals from school or 

summer meal programs at one time.

•	 Allowing flexibilities in meal requirements for Child Nutrition 

Programs to allow program operators to continue to offer complete 

and nutritious meals while dealing with supply chain disruptions.

•	 Increasing training and technical assistance for program operators 

across many FNS programs to allow them to continue operating 

effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic.

•	 Allowing waivers for WIC services to be provided remotely, which 

made it possible for pregnant and postpartum women and their 

young children to continue receiving WIC nutrition services without 

putting themselves at risk.

•	 Increasing funding to The Emergency Food Assistance Program 

(TEFAP) and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations 

(FDPIR), which allows more food to be provided to food banks and 

Tribal communities. 

None of this work would have been possible without the dedication and 

commitment of the FNS staff and their local, State, U.S. Territory, and 

Tribal partners. Many worked nights and weekends to fulfill the agency’s 

critical mission, often while caring for their children at home due to 

school and childcare closures. The best thing about an organization is 

often its people, and this is certainly the case at FNS.

Ensuring Food Safety Across 

Our Programs

FNS tailors food safety information for 

consumers and our local partners that operate 

FNS programs to ensure they have the latest 

food safety science and information on 

preventing foodborne illnesses. These critical 

resources help us not only provide necessary 

food and nutrition assistance but also do so in a 

way that prioritizes the safety of those served—

whether through our emergency food response 

efforts or meals served in schools and childcare 

settings.

9
A core piece of this mission 

is focused on promoting and 

elevating nutrition security.

10
What We Are Doing

FNS continues to use all available resources to meet our mission, always thinking creatively about 

how to help those most in need. A core piece of our mission is focused on promoting and elevating 

nutrition security.22

FNS’s work is driven by our four nutrition security pillars: (1) providing meaningful nutrition support 

from pregnancy to birth and beyond; (2) connecting all Americans with healthy, safe, affordable 

food sources; (3) developing, translating, and enacting nutrition science through partnership; and 

(4) prioritizing equity every step of the way.17,22 Together, these serve as the foundation for our broad 

portfolio of work. Furthermore, we recognize that longstanding disparities in diet-related diseases 

are rooted in structural racism and will require equities beyond those available in FNS. Therefore, FNS 

is working with our Federal partners and stakeholders across the country to meet the goals of the 

White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to promote and elevate nutrition security.2

11

Departmentwide Approach 

to Nutrition Security

Secretary Vilsack emphasized in his March 2022 announcement that addressing nutrition security is 

a priority across all of USDA and will require a collaborative, interagency approach going forward. At 

FNS, we work in close coordination with our colleagues throughout USDA to achieve our shared goal of 

improving nutrition security across America. Examples of these partnerships include:

•	 Collaborating with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to implement 

programs that incentivize healthy food purchases among SNAP participants through the Gus 

Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP). 

•	 Working with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to distribute USDA Foods, 100 percent 

American-grown and -produced meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products, to 

USDA programs.

•	 Sharing data and collaborating on important research on food security, access to food stores, and 

examining trends in FNS programs with our research colleagues at the USDA Economic Research 

Service (ERS).

•	 Improving access to healthy food retailers through USDA Rural Development’s Healthy Food 

Financing Initiative (HFFI), which provides grants and technical assistance to retailers and other food 

enterprises to improve access to nutritious retail foods in areas underserved by grocery stores. 

13
National 

Strategy Pillars

The work done by FNS staff and our local, State, U.S. Territories, and Tribal community 

partners to administer FNS programs plays a critical role in ensuring all Americans 

have consistent and equitable access to safe, healthy, and affordable food.23 FNS’ 

four nutrition security pillars and many of our major current or planned projects are 

well aligned with the five pillars in the National Strategy and the 2022 White House 

Conference pillars and touch on all life stages.2 The following are selected highlights 

of our work that support each of the National Strategy pillars:

14
Pillar 1: 

Improve Food 

Access and 

Affordability

End hunger by making it easier for 

everyone—including individuals in 

urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal 

communities and U.S. Territories—

to access and afford food.

Increasing SNAP Benefits to 

Support Healthy Eating Patterns at 

All Life Stages

In 2022, FNS published its reevaluation 

of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which is 

the basis of the value of SNAP benefit 

amounts.24,25 The reevaluation resulted in a 

21-percent increase in SNAP benefits, which 

amounted to about $36 more per person 

per month when the changes took effect 

on October 1, 2021—the first permanent 

increase in the purchasing power of SNAP 

benefits in the last 45 years. This historic 

update aligns SNAP benefits with the cost 

of a nutritious, practical, and cost-effective 

diet for modern American lifestyles. We will 

soon finalize our 2021 historic TFP update 

by issuing the Alaska and Hawaii updates.

Bringing SNAP and WIC Shopping 

Online

SNAP has a long history of working to ensure 

that participants have access to modern 

payment options aligned with those available 

to non-SNAP consumers.26 Today, over 160 

stores representing thousands of retailers 

have made online purchasing an option for 

SNAP households, putting healthy foods 

in easier reach.27 Nearly 3.5 million SNAP 

households shopped online in August 2022, a 

substantial increase from 35,000 households 

in March 2020. FNS is continuing to expand 

availability of SNAP online shopping, as 

well. Many more retailers are expected to 

add an online SNAP option soon, and FNS 

is working to ensure smaller retailers and 

farmers are not left behind. For example, 

in fiscal year 2023, FNS expects to award 

a grant to provide technical assistance to 

small retailers considering online SNAP 

participation. In addition, an e-commerce 

platform for farmer participation online is 

close to implementation. For WIC shoppers, 

FNS is working to expand online ordering 

and transactions.28 Recently, we established 

a cooperative agreement to test online 

shopping projects in seven WIC State 

agencies and provided guidance on the 

process for requesting waivers to allow 

online ordering and transaction projects 

under authority provided in the American 

Rescue Plan Act (ARPA, P.L. 117-2).29 We 

are also working on revisions to WIC 

15
regulations through a proposed rule that 

will remove barriers to WIC online shopping 

and modernize the delivery of WIC food 

benefits.30,31

Modernizing WIC to Improve Our 

Reach

As part of ARPA, FNS received $390 million 

for outreach, innovation, and modernization 

in WIC and the WIC Farmers’ Market 

Nutrition Program.32 FNS is making key 

investments and partnering with local, 

State, and Tribal partners on the following 

initiatives: national and community outreach, 

enhancing the shopping experience, growing 

and supporting the WIC workforce, and 

improving the WIC journey.33 The ultimate 

goal of all of these efforts is to ensure that 

more eligible families are connected with 

WIC’s powerful nutrition services throughout 

critical stages in life. 

Reaching More Americans With 

Emergency Food

Through The Emergency Food Assistance 

Program (TEFAP), FNS purchases a variety of 

nutritious, domestically sourced and produced 

USDA Foods and makes them available 

to State distributing agencies that, in turn, 

provide the food to local agencies, such as 

food banks.34 FNS is working to expand the 

reach of TEFAP in remote, rural, Tribal, and/or 

low-income areas underserved by the program 

through a $100 million grant initiative.35 In June 

2022, FNS awarded over $39 million in TEFAP 

Reach and Resiliency grants to 38 TEFAP State 

agencies for a variety of unique and impactful 

projects36 and will announce a second 

opportunity for funding later this year. FNS is 

also working to understand and address gaps 

in meeting the needs of individuals and families 

keeping Kosher and following Halal through 

TEFAP, among other programs that use USDA 

Foods.37,38

Investing in Resilient Child Nutrition 

Programs Amid Supply Chain 

Challenges

Our State and local partners have continued 

to prove their resiliency and dedication 

to our Nation’s children through more 

than 2 years of COVID-19 pandemicrelated disruptions.39 In our latest move to 

strengthen our Child Nutrition Programs, 

USDA announced an additional nearly $500 

million in Commodity Credit Corporation 

funds for schools to purchase Americangrown foods for their meal programs.40

This is on top of the nearly $1 billion USDA 

announced in June 2022 and the $1 million 

previously allocated in December 2021. 

During the school year 2022-2023, this 

critical, nearly $2.5 billion investment will 

continue to help ensure access to healthy 

foods in schools amid rising food costs 

and continued supply chain disruptions.41,42

Another way we are investing in child 

nutrition programs is through increased 

per meal reimbursement rates, totaling an 

estimated $4.3 billion in additional resources 

for school meal and child and adult day 

care program operators. Meanwhile, we 

continue to invest in the nutritional quality 

of these meals through our work to update 

National Strategy Pillars

16
the meal requirements in the Child Nutrition 

Programs.43 We have put in place interim 

measures to advance meal requirements 

while providing flexibility for program 

operators still recovering from the COVID-19 

pandemic.

Expanding Access to FDPIR and 

Aligning Foods With Traditional 

Tribal Foodways

Last November, USDA announced a $3.5 

million investment to fund FDPIR SelfDetermination Demonstration Projects, 

giving eight Tribal nations the ability to 

enter into their own contracts for some of 

the foods offered in the program.44 Earlier 

this year, FNS awarded an additional $2.2 

million to fund modifications or extensions 

to the existing contracts, and will soon 

announce the availability of an additional 

$3 million to support new projects. This 

has provided Tribes with an opportunity to 

better align the FDPIR food package with 

their dietary preferences and traditional 

foods, and to purchase foods from 

Indigenous producers.

Pillar 2: 

Integrate Nutrition 

and Health

Prioritize the role of nutrition and 

food security and overall health, 

including disease prevention and 

management, and ensure that our 

health care system addresses the 

nutrition needs of all people.

Supporting a Diverse WIC 

Workforce

WIC is one of the most powerful, evidencebased public health interventions available, 

providing supplemental foods, nutrition 

education, breastfeeding support, and key 

referrals to health care and other important 

services to income-eligible pregnant, 

postpartum, and breastfeeding women, 

infants, and children. In its ongoing efforts 

to maximize the impact of the program,45-47

FNS will be working with USDA’s National 

Institute of Food and Agriculture and its 

network of Minority Serving Institutions 

17
Pillar 3: 

Empower All 

Consumers to Make 

and Have Access to 

Healthy Choices

Foster environments that 

enable all people to easily 

make informed healthy choices, 

increase access to healthy food, 

encourage healthy work place 

and school policies, and invest in 

public messaging and education 

campaigns that are culturally 

appropriate and resonate with 

specific communities.

Making Healthy School Meals That 

Kids Enjoy

FNS staff are hard at work building a 

national campaign to support updating 

the nutrition standards for school meals to 

reflect the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans.

43 FNS is engaging with a wide 

range of stakeholders to inform the nutrition 

standards, which are expected to be in 

effect for school year 2024-2025. USDA 

also recently announced a new $100 million 

fund to support school food authorities, 

such as school districts, to innovate and 

accelerate their efforts to improve the 

nutritional quality of school meals.48 This 

new Healthy Meals Incentive initiative will 

challenge industry partners to provide 

healthier offerings while also recognizing 

and building upon existing local innovations. 

Our goal is to provide a nationwide service 

of nourishing school meals that students 

want to eat; are operationally feasible; put 

children’s health at the forefront; and are 

produced in a way that honors cultural and 

religious food preferences, the environment, 

local economies, and the school nutrition 

professionals who prepare and serve the 

meals.

Maximizing WIC Food Packages to 

Promote Healthy Choices

Congress temporarily increased the value 

of the WIC cash-value voucher, which 

participants can use to purchase fruits 

and vegetables as part of their WIC food 

package, through fiscal year 2022. The 

increased cash-value voucher has been 

X

National Strategy Pillars

to create a national workforce strategy 

for WIC. This partnership will cultivate 

comprehensive solutions for WIC workforce 

development, including ensuring diverse 

pipelines into the WIC workforce. The goal 

of this collaboration is to better support 

WIC staff and ensure skilled and culturally 

relevant care for WIC families, ultimately 

increasing participation in the program and 

improving outcomes for participants. 

18
popular among WIC participants, and it was 

included in the President’s budget request 

for fiscal year 2023. In addition to expanding 

purchasing power for fruits and vegetables, 

FNS is working on comprehensive revisions 

to the WIC food packages through a new 

proposed rule.49 These revisions aim to 

make it easier for WIC participants to follow 

healthy eating patterns that align with the 

latest nutrition science, increase participant 

choice and access to culturally appropriate 

foods, and promote and support 

participants’ breastfeeding goals.

Promoting Healthy Eating at All 

Life Stages With SNAP Incentive 

Programs

To increase SNAP participants’ purchasing 

power while improving diet quality, USDA 

encourages SNAP retailers to participate 

in one or more of the SNAP-based pointof-purchase incentive initiatives. These 

include the Gus Schumacher Nutrition 

Incentive Program (GusNIP), focused on 

increasing fruit and vegetable consumption; 

the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive (HFMI), 

focused on increasing consumption of lowfat milk; the Electronic Healthy Incentives 

Program (eHIP), focused on putting money 

back on SNAP EBT cards when consumers 

buy healthy, local fruits and vegetables 

from participating farm vendors; and 

State, nonprofit and retailer-initiated SNAP 

incentives that promote foods aligned with 

the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

50,51

SNAP is maximizing the availability of 

incentives through consistent, technologydriven incentive delivery options.

Centralizing Consumer Information 

to Support Healthy Shopping and 

Meal Prep for Income-Eligible 

Households

While many low-income individuals and 

families are eligible for and could benefit 

from multiple FNS programs, finding helpful 

information—such as where they can use 

their SNAP and WIC benefits and relevant 

healthy eating incentive programs—can 

require already time-pressed participants to 

look across multiple different sources. CNPP’s 

consumer friendly app, Shop Simple with 

MyPlate, is trying to help solve this problem.52

While the app is currently focused on SNAP 

participants, CNPP is hoping to expand the 

resources provided to help connect users with 

WIC-authorized retailers, food banks, and 

other sources of food and nutrition assistance.

Reestablishing State Nutrition 

Action Councils (SNACs) Through 

FNS Regional Offices

In fiscal year 2022, FNS’s seven Regional 

Offices worked with State partners to 

reestablish State Nutrition Action Councils 

(SNACs). These Councils offer collaborative 

and coordinated nutrition promotion and 

education, as well as food and nutrition 

security efforts conducted at the State 

level, to maximize resources and move 

people to healthier lifestyles.53,54 SNACs 

19
also share cross-program information and 

best practices, maximize resources, and 

increase cost efficiencies related to nutrition 

education and nutrition security.

Unifying Consumer Messaging 

Around Healthy, Affordable Eating

USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and 

Promotion (CNPP) staff work with 

colleagues at the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services to update the 

Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 

and publish new guidance every 5 years.55

CNPP’s expertise in nutrition science and 

consumer research is further leveraged to 

translate the DGA into actionable consumer 

messages, content, and tools to serve the 

public, all housed under MyPlate.

56 CNPP is 

looking to bring together Federal agencies, 

the private sector, and health professionals 

to align on messaging and incorporate 

MyPlate into their consumer-facing efforts. 

Doing so is complex and requires planning, 

open dialogue, ongoing communication, and 

dedicated funding.

Restructuring SNAP-Ed

SNAP-Ed provides evidence-based 

programming to promote healthy food 

choices, obesity prevention, and physical 

activity.57 In response to the Biden 

Administration’s Executive Orders related 

to food security and racial equity, as well 

as the Department’s focus on nutrition 

security, USDA recently made several 

significant changes to SNAP-Ed that 

were designed to strengthen its impacts 

on public health and health equity.17,58

These changes include: establishing a new 

National Program Evaluation and Reporting 

System; developing new resources to 

ensure equity in SNAP-Ed program access, 

service delivery, and funding distribution; 

encouraging maximum flexibility in the 

use of policy, systems, and environmental 

change approaches within the SNAP-Ed 

guidelines; and establishing a new Nutrition 

Education Branch dedicated to SNAP-Ed 

for the first time in the history of FNS. These 

recent changes are supported by a talented 

and growing team of SNAP-Ed staff who 

share a strong public health focus.

Supporting Nutrition Education 

and Wellness for Kids With Team 

Nutrition

The Team Nutrition initiative at FNS 

supports efforts to improve healthy eating 

choices and physical activity across our 

Child Nutrition Programs in schools, 

childcare settings, and summer meal sites.59

Team Nutrition communicates information 

from MyPlate and the Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans geared towards children, families, 

and child nutrition program operators. 

Through Team Nutrition, FNS also supports 

our partners in local educational agencies 

(LEAs) as they develop federally mandated 

local school wellness policies to cultivate 

school environments that promote students’ 

health, well-being, and ability to learn.60

The Five Pillars National Strategy Pillars

20
Pillar 4: 

Support Physical 

Activity for All

Make it easier for people to be 

more physically active (in part 

by ensuring that everyone has 

access to safe places to be 

active), increase awareness of 

the benefits of physical activity, 

and conduct research on and 

measure physical activity.

Enhancing Online Nutrition 

Education and Physical Activity 

Resources in SNAP-Ed

The SNAP-Ed Connection, a database 

of SNAP-Ed policy guidance, nutrition 

education, and physical activity resources, 

is currently undergoing a complete overhaul 

and expansion.61 This process aims to 

improve our ability to: (1) share SNAP-Ed 

best practices and resources as our online 

clearinghouse; (2) support State agency 

program development, implementation, 

21
and evaluation; and (3) improve public 

access to SNAP-Ed data. SNAP-Ed also 

supports physical activity consistent with 

the Dietary Guidelines for Americans by 

taking a multidimensional approach and 

using direct education and policy, system, 

and environmental change interventions to 

support a healthy and active lifestyle for 

SNAP and SNAP-eligible participants.

National Strategy Pillars

Pillar 5: 

Enhance Nutrition 

and Food Security 

Research

Improve nutrition metrics, 

data collection, and research 

to inform nutrition and food 

security policy, particularly on 

issues of equity, access, and 

disparities.

Strengthening Evidence to Inform 

FNS Policy and Nutrition Services 

The FNS Office of Policy Support conducts 

robust evaluation research that informs 

both present and future policy decisions, 

particularly in SNAP, WIC, and the Child 

Nutrition Programs.62 FNS research on 

SNAP includes a study currently underway 

to measure the impact of recent SNAP 

benefit adjustments on SNAP participants 

and regularly occurring research to assess 

diet quality, nutrition, and health among 

SNAP participants and non-participants.63,64

FNS research on WIC examines current 

participant experiences and evaluates pilot 

projects to test innovations in WIC.65 For 

example, an ongoing FNS-led longitudinal 

cohort study that tracks feeding practices 

and participant experiences starting at birth, 

finds that longer participation in WIC is 

associated with better diet quality among 

young children.66 Finally, our Child Nutrition 

research team conducts research to identify 

and support policies that strengthen the 

nutritional quality of foods provided through 

school meals and in childcare settings while 

promoting equitable access to healthy 

diets throughout childhood.67 Data from 

the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study 

(SNMCS) indicates that the diet quality of 

school meals increased significantly after 

updated meal standards were implemented 

in 2012 and that the overall quality of school 

meals did not differ by school poverty 

level or racial and ethnic composition of 

the school population, emphasizing the 

importance of meal standards and the 

tremendous effort of the school nutrition 

professionals who implement those 

standards.68,69

22
Federal Nutrition Programs Are Rooted in 

Local Partnerships

As highlighted throughout this report, the response efforts during the 

COVID-19 pandemic amplified the critical importance of dedicated 

local partners in delivering USDA nutrition assistance programs. This is 

not only true in times of acute national crisis but also in the successes 

of our programs, year after year, which are rooted in the partnerships 

we hold with State and local governments, Tribal communities, U.S. 

Territories, school districts, community organizations, and the sites that 

deliver our services. We have always relied on the work of our local 

partners, and we look forward to leaning on these partnerships as we 

work together to shape the future of nutrition services following the 

2022 White House Conference. 

23

Where We Are Headed

We are proud of all the work underway at FNS but recognize that there is still much to be 

done to tackle the food and nutrition insecurity that continues to plague tens of millions 

of Americans, particularly those who are historically underserved. FNS programs, staff, and 

research—strengthened by complimentary activities across USDA—look forward to meaningfully 

contributing to the goals of the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and 

Health.2 Ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity in the U.S. by 2030 

will be a game changer, putting us on a path toward fewer Americans experiencing diet-related 

diseases and an even more prosperous future for the country. FNS will leverage every tool at 

our disposal to support consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food 

for all Americans. We look forward to effectively and efficiently engaging and collaborating 

with external partners as well as listening to and lifting up the lived experiences of our program 

participants and partners. We are energized by so much recent progress and could not be 

more excited to continue our work while supporting the bold policies articulated in the National 

Strategy. The cost of inaction is simply too high.70 We must work together to tackle these issues. 

We hope you can join us. 

25
Table: Programs and Services 

Administered by the USDA Food 

and Nutrition Service
Program Overview Participation Cost 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): SNAP, formerly known as Food 

Stamps, provides nutrition assistance to eligible low-income individuals and households 

through a monthly benefit used to purchase food at grocery stores and other authorized 

retailers.

41.6 million

(FY 2021)

$113.9 billion

(FY 2021)a

Nutrition Assistance Program Block Grants (NAP): NAP block grants are provided 

in lieu of SNAP to support food assistance to low-income households in Puerto Rico, 

American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. NAP 

benefits are provided to households similarly to SNAP through an EBT card to be used 

at participating markets and grocery stores. While FNS provides oversight of NAP, the 

Territories administer their programs and establish rules and eligibility requirements to 

keep expenditures within the cap of the block grant. 

1.5 million

(FY 2021)

$3.0 billion

(FY 2021)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed): SNAP-Ed promotes 

healthy food choices, obesity prevention, and physical activity among SNAP participants. 

State agencies submit an annual plan to FNS each year to receive funding to support 

SNAP-Ed programming through local partners who help tailor activities to meet local 

community needs. 

4.2 million

(FY 2019)

$464 million in 

allocations

(FY 2022)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T): 

SNAP E&T helps connect SNAP participants, who are able to work with the skills, training, 

and work experience needed to obtain and maintain regular employment. Using Federal 

and State funds, States operate SNAP E&T programs through local partners such as 

businesses and nonprofits, community colleges, and American Job Centers. In addition 

to building job skills, SNAP E&T programs can also provide supportive services like 

assistance with transportation, dependent care, and supplies.

406,000

(FY 2019)

$363 million

(FY 2019)

27
Program Overview Participation Cost 

National School Lunch Program (NSLP): NSLP provides Federal reimbursements for 

participating pre-K-12 schools to provide nutritionally balanced meals at low cost or no 

cost for eligible children. Funding is also available through NSLP for schools to provide 

afterschool snacks and summer lunches when school is not in session. 

29.6 million 

participants; 4.9 

billion lunches 

served 

(FY 2019)

$14.2 billion

(FY 2019)

School Breakfast Program (SBP): SBP provides Federal reimbursements for participating 

pre-K-12 schools to provide nutritionally balanced breakfasts at low cost or no cost for 

eligible children. 

14.8 million 

participants; 2.5 

billion breakfasts 

served

(FY 2019)

$4.6 billion

(FY 2019)

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP): SFSP provides reimbursements for meals and 

snacks served by nonprofit organizations and schools during the summer months. SFSP 

sites are located in low-income communities in a variety of settings including schools, 

parks, community centers, libraries, churches, and migrant centers. Sites are generally 

open to all children 18 years and younger and can also provide enrichment activities such 

as reading, physical activity, or nutrition education.

142 million meals 

served 

(FY 2019)

$475 million

(FY 2019)

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): CACFP provides reimbursements for 

nutritious foods to serve in meals and snacks at child and adult care institutions and 

family day care homes for young children, at-risk youth, and adults with disabilities.

4.8 million 

participants; 

1.9 billion meals 

served 

(FY 2021)

$3.8 billion

(FY 2021)

Special Milk Program (SMP): SMP provides reimbursements to schools, child care 

providers, and eligible camps to serve half pints of milk to children at no cost, regardless 

of household income. 

35.1 million half 

pints served

(FY 2019)

$7.3 million

(FY 2019)

28
Program Overview Participation Cost 

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP): Through FFVP, elementary schools receive 

support to provide fresh fruits and vegetables during the school day, outside of NSLP 

and SBP meal times. The purpose of the program is to introduce young children to a 

variety of fresh produce in a way that foods are recognizable and encourage them to 

enjoy fruits and vegetables. 

N/A $176 million

(FY 2020)

Team Nutrition: The Team Nutrition initiative supports FNS Child Nutrition Programs by 

providing training and technical assistance for foodservice providers, nutrition education 

for children and their caregivers, and school and community support of healthy eating 

and physical activity.

N/A $22 million

(FY 2021)

Farm to School Program: The Farm to School Program provides technical assistance and 

grants to fund projects that incorporate local foods in the FNS Child Nutrition Programs 

and expose students to food and agricultural education experiences.

123 projects 

serving more 

than 3 million 

children

(FY 2022)

$10 million in 

competitive grants 

for School Year 

2022-2023

(FY 2022)

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): 

WIC serves low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women; infants; and 

children under age 5 by providing nutritious supplemental foods, nutrition education and 

breastfeeding promotion, and referrals to health and other social services.

6.2 million 

(FY 2021)

$5.0 billion

(FY 2021)

WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP): WIC FMNP awards grants to State 

agencies to provide eligible WIC participants in participating areas with additional 

coupons they can use to purchase eligible foods from approved farmers’ markets or 

roadside stands.

1.2 million WIC 

recipients

(FY 2020)

$22.6 million

(FY 2020)

29
Program Overview Participation Cost 

Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP): SFMNP awards grants to State 

agencies to provide eligible low-income seniors with coupons they can use to purchase 

eligible foods from approved farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and community 

supported agriculture (CSA) programs.

726,000

(FY 2020)

$21.1 million

(FY 2020)

USDA Foods for Child Nutrition Programs: The USDA Foods programs, in partnership 

with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), support procurement of 100 percent 

American-grown and -produced meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy 

products to provide to schools and institutions participating in FNS programs.

1.8 billion 

pounds of 

domestic food 

purchased

(FY 2020)

$1.9 billion

(FY 2020)

Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR): FDPIR provides nutritious, 

domestically grown USDA Foods to eligible Native American households in designated 

areas. The program is administered locally by either Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) 

or State agencies who store and distribute the food, determine eligibility, and provide 

nutrition education.

48,000

(FY 2021)

$118.7 million

(FY 2021)

Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP): CSFP aims to improve the health 

of low-income elderly individuals at least 60 years of age by providing supplementary, 

nutritious, domestically grown USDA Foods. States and ITOs store CSFP foods and 

distribute foods through public and nonprofit local agencies.

661,000

(FY 2021)

$296.9 million

(FY 2021)

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP): TEFAP provides supplemental, 

nutritious, domestically grown USDA Foods to low-income Americans through 

emergency food assistance. USDA Foods purchased through TEFAP are made available 

to States who in turn provide the foods to their local partners, such as food banks, to 

be distributed either directly to the public or through local organizations such as soup 

kitchens and food pantries. 

N/A $1.4 billion 

(FY 2021) b

30
Program Overview Participation Cost 

Food Safety: The FNS develops food safety education and technical assistance resources 

for FNS program operators and consumers to ensure safe food practices and prevent 

foodborne illnesses.

N/A $3.0 million

(FY 2021)

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP): CNPP develops and promotes 

dietary guidance driven by the latest nutrition science and consumer needs. CNPP staff, 

jointly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, lead the development 

of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. CNPP also leads translation of the DGA into 

MyPlate for consumers nationally, and application of the updated DGA to reevaluate 

the Thrifty Food Plan, which serves as the basis for the maximum SNAP allotment. With 

National Institutes of Health (NIH), CNPP also updates the Healthy Eating Index after 

each new edition of the DGA, assessing how the U.S. population’s diet aligns with the 

Guidelines.

N/A $13.0 million

(FY 2021)

Notes:

a SNAP cost data provided above includes additional SNAP benefits provided through emergency allotments. Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) 

benefits issued in place of foods provided through child nutrition programs.

b Includes additional funding to support emergency feeding efforts under COVID-19 pandemic response. 

More information on our programs is available at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/programs

Program data is published at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/overview

FY = Fiscal Year

N/A = Not Applicable; FNS does not or cannot routinely track participation in these programs.

31
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In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations 

and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex 

(including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights 

activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who 

require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, 

American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program 

or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/

documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA 

office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the 

complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action 

in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an 

alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

1. Mail:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or

2. Fax:

(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

3. Email:

Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

FNS-961

September 2022