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The USDA and SSA today announced a strengthened partnership to help connect people to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. USDA and SSA’s new joint agreement, or memorandum of understanding, will improve efficiency, helping to advance food and nutrition security and reduce the hurdles families face to obtain the government assistance they need.

USDA FNS is inviting applications for the second of two rounds of grants to improve the reach of TEFAP. Both rounds of grants – totaling up to $100 million and funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 – are intended to equip state agencies and emergency food providers to better serve those in need of food in remote, rural, tribal, and other low-income areas that face persistent poverty and inequality.

USDA today announced its new Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health in support of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot effort to end cancer as we know it.

USDA is partnering with Washington, D.C., to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy and nutritious food in underserved communities and in schools. The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program will improve food and agricultural supply-chain resiliency and increase local food consumption around the country.

One year after the reinstatement of the White House Tribal Nations Summit, USDA is sharing its actions to better serve tribal governments, citizens, and organizations and honor our nation’s trust and treaty responsibility. The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are taking steps to empower tribal self-determination, promote equity and remove barriers to services and programs, and incorporate Indigenous perspectives.

This month, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is proposing changes to the foods prescribed to participants in WIC. See what others are saying about the proposed changes.

USDA today announced an investment of $59.4 million to support the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program’s (GusNIP) Produce Prescription and Nutrition Incentive programs designed to encourage families and individuals to eat more healthfully by increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables. 

FNS is announcing proposed changes to the foods prescribed to WIC participants. These science-based revisions incorporate recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine  and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.

USDA FNS today launched a new and innovative initiative for healthier school meals through a $50 million grant opportunity that will support collaboration with the food industry to develop nutritious, appetizing school meals for students. This launch follows through on a commitment made in the administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

FNS is providing nearly $3 million in grants to community colleges to expand the availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training programs, known as SNAP E&T, and nearly $3.5 million in additional funds to state agencies to strengthen E&T program data collection. These moves are part of a larger commitment to advance equity and improve access to SNAP E&T programs nationwide.

USDA acknowledges major progress and promise in several modernization and innovation efforts for WIC to reach more eligible mothers and young children and improve the service they receive throughout their entire experience with the program, setting them up for healthy outcomes and helping to reduce longstanding disparities in maternal and child health.