II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2824 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to establish 

in each State a network between agricultural producers and food banks 

to provide food to the needy and reduce food waste, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2018 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

to establish in each State a network between agricultural 

producers and food banks to provide food to the needy 

and reduce food waste, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm to Food Bank 

5 Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FARM TO FOOD BANK PROGRAM. 

2 The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 is 

3 amended by inserting after section 4405 (7 U.S.C. 7517) 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4406. FARM TO FOOD BANK PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE.—The term 

8 ‘agricultural cooperative’ means a farmers’ coopera9 tive described in section 521(b)(1) of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986. 

11 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER.—The term 

12 ‘agricultural producer’ includes— 

13 ‘‘(A) an agricultural cooperative; 

14 ‘‘(B) a person engaged in farming, ranch15 ing, or aquaculture; 

16 ‘‘(C) a person engaged in the packing of a 

17 food product; and 

18 ‘‘(D) a person engaged in the minimal 

19 processing of a food product, as determined by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en22 tity’ means an organization described in section 

23 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

24 exempt from taxation under 501(a) of that Code 

25 that— 

26 ‘‘(A) is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a food bank; 

2 ‘‘(ii) an association of food banks; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) a food assistance network; and 

4 ‘‘(B) has the expertise and infrastructure 

5 to source, aggregate, transport, and distribute 

6 an eligible product to individuals in need in the 

7 State or region in which the eligible entity is lo8 cated. 

9 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE PRODUCT.—The term ‘eligible 

10 product’ means a food product— 

11 ‘‘(A) that is— 

12 ‘‘(i) a fruit, vegetable, grain, meat (in13 cluding poultry and nonamenable species), 

14 egg, seafood, legume, nut, seed, or dairy 

15 product; 

16 ‘‘(ii) grown or produced in the United 

17 States; 

18 ‘‘(iii) fresh or minimally processed, as 

19 determined by the Secretary, taking into 

20 account— 

21 ‘‘(I) distribution needs; 

22 ‘‘(II) food storage availability; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(III) the availability of that food 

25 product in a State or region; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) safe for consumption; and 

2 ‘‘(B)(i) for which there is limited access to 

3 a retail market or supply chain; 

4 ‘‘(ii) that has been grown or otherwise pro5 duced for the purpose of donation; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) that has been gleaned. 

7 ‘‘(5) FARM TO FOOD BANK PROGRAM.—The 

8 term ‘farm to food bank program’ means a program 

9 under which agricultural producers donate eligible 

10 products to an eligible entity for free distribution to 

11 individuals in need. 

12 ‘‘(6) GLEAN.—The term ‘glean’ means to col13 lect unharvested crops from the fields of agricultural 

14 producers for ultimate free distribution to individ15 uals in need. 

16 ‘‘(7) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means a geo17 graphic area, as determined by the Secretary, that 

18 comprises— 

19 ‘‘(A) one or more States; or 

20 ‘‘(B) one or more localities within a State. 

21 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) a State; 

23 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; 


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1 ‘‘(C) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

2 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu3 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 

4 ‘‘(D) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(E) any other territory or possession of 

7 the United States. 

8 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM PURPOSES.—The purposes of this 

9 section are— 

10 ‘‘(1) to reduce food waste through gleaning; 

11 ‘‘(2) to promote food recovery at the agricul12 tural production level; 

13 ‘‘(3) to provide food to individuals in need; and 

14 ‘‘(4) to build relationships between agricultural 

15 producers and eligible entities through the donation 

16 of food. 

17 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab19 lish a program under which the Secretary shall allo20 cate funding to a State to support the establishment 

21 and administration of a farm to food bank program 

22 in that State. 

23 ‘‘(2) STATE OPT-IN.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 allocate funding to a State under paragraph (1) 

3 if that State— 

4 ‘‘(i) opts in to participate in the pro5 gram; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates an ability to par7 ticipate in the program, as determined by 

8 the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(B) STATE PLAN.—To receive funding 

10 under paragraph (1), a State shall submit to 

11 the Secretary an operation and administration 

12 plan for a farm to food bank program in that 

13 State, which shall include a description of the 

14 State agency and the eligible entity that the 

15 State shall partner with under subsection 

16 (d)(2)(A). 

17 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program 

19 described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

20 provide technical assistance and training relat21 ing to establishing and administering a farm to 

22 food bank program (including training relating 

23 to safe food handling) to a State or eligible en24 tity on the request of that State or eligible enti25 ty. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION.—In carrying out 

2 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall coordi3 nate with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs 

4 as the Secretary determines is necessary. 

5 ‘‘(d) STATE IMPLEMENTATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds 

7 under subsection (c)(1)— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall establish and administer a farm 

9 to food bank program in the State; and 

10 ‘‘(B) may establish and administer a re11 gional farm to food bank program with a neigh12 boring State that receives funds under sub13 section (c)(1). 

14 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP WITH ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out para16 graph (1), a State shall partner with an eligible 

17 entity— 

18 ‘‘(i) that is selected under subpara19 graph (B); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) for the purpose of— 

21 ‘‘(I) jointly establishing and ad22 ministering a farm to food bank pro23 gram in the State; or 

24 ‘‘(II) overseeing the establish25 ment and administration of a farm to 


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1 food bank program in the State by 

2 that eligible entity. 

3 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—A 

4 State shall select an eligible entity as a partner 

5 under subparagraph (A) by— 

6 ‘‘(i) issuing a request for proposals 

7 from eligible entities located in the State 

8 or region, as applicable; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) selecting the winning eligible en10 tity based on criteria determined by the 

11 Secretary under subparagraph (C). 

12 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—The Sec13 retary shall establish criteria for the selection of 

14 an eligible entity under subparagraph (B) that 

15 shall include the requirement that the winning 

16 eligible entity— 

17 ‘‘(i) is audited for food safety by an 

18 independent third party; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) donates food to individuals in 

20 need. 

21 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY OF ELIGIBLE PRODUCTS.—In 

22 carrying out paragraph (1)(A), a State shall 

23 prioritize eligible products that are fresh and pri24 marily produced in the State or region, as applica25 ble. 


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1 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS.—In 

3 carrying out paragraph (1), a State may reim4 burse an agricultural producer or an eligible en5 tity, as appropriate, participating in a farm to 

6 food bank program for eligible costs, as deter7 mined by the Secretary, including the cost of— 

8 ‘‘(i) producing an eligible product that 

9 is a dairy product; 

10 ‘‘(ii) harvesting an eligible product; 

11 ‘‘(iii) storing an eligible product; 

12 ‘‘(iv) minimally processing an eligible 

13 product; 

14 ‘‘(v) packing an eligible product; and 

15 ‘‘(vi) transporting an eligible product 

16 to an eligible entity. 

17 ‘‘(B) FORMULA.—A State that receives 

18 funds under subsection (c)(1) shall distribute 

19 funds to eligible entities participating in a farm 

20 to food bank program in the State according to 

21 a formula— 

22 ‘‘(i) determined by the State in con23 sultation with the eligible entity partnering 

24 with that State; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) described in section 251.3(h) of 

2 title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

3 effect on the date of enactment of this sec4 tion). 

5 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—In carrying out 

7 subsection (c)(1), the Secretary shall allocate fund8 ing to each State— 

9 ‘‘(A) according to the formula described in 

10 section 251.3(h) of title 7, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations (as in effect on the date of enact12 ment of this section); and 

13 ‘‘(B) on a 2-year basis. 

14 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—Of the funding 

15 allocated to each State under paragraph (1), not 

16 more than 10 percent may be used for administra17 tive costs. 

18 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

20 as are necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. CROP INSURANCE. 

22 Section 508(a) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

23 U.S.C. 1508(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(11) FOOD DONATION AS ALTERNATIVE

2 USE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF DONATE.—In this 

4 paragraph, the term ‘donate’ means to give 

5 without requiring anything of monetary value 

6 from the recipient. 

7 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON CROP INSURANCE.—The 

8 Corporation shall establish a procedure under 

9 which an insured crop that is donated by a pro10 ducer does not qualify as a produced crop under 

11 a crop insurance claim.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. STUDY ON FOOD WASTE. 

13 (a) DEFINITION OF FOOD WASTE.—In this section, 

14 the term ‘‘food waste’’ means food waste that occurs— 

15 (1) on the farm and ranch production level; and 

16 (2) before and after the harvest period. 

17 (b) STUDY.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordi18 nation with the Administrator of the Environmental Pro19 tection Agency and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, 

20 shall conduct a study to evaluate and determine— 

21 (1) methods of measuring food waste; 

22 (2) standards for the volume of food waste; and 

23 (3) causal factors for food waste. 

24 (c) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 


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1 shall submit a report that describes the results of the 

2 study conducted under subsection (b) to the Committee 

3 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 

4 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 

5 Senate. 

6 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of submission of the report under subsection (c), 

8 and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

9 submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri11 tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report that describes— 

12 (1) food waste during the 1-year period ending 

13 on the date of submission of the report under this 

14 subsection; and 

15 (2) the methods that the Secretary shall imple16 ment to reduce food waste. 

Æ 


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