Newsroom

FNCS Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps today highlighted the accomplishments of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service in 2018, from common-sense flexibilities for school meal providers to the agency’s vigorous response to provide food to the victims of coast-to-coast natural disasters.

Secretary Sonny Perdue today applauded the accomplishments made by USDA over the past year. USDA has continued enacting President Trump’s goals of regulatory reform, streamlining government, and refocusing USDA to be customer oriented.

USDA today announced $5 million of investments in customer service projects to improve and modernize application processing in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

FNS today announced $5.2 million in grant awards to bring nutritious, local foods into schools and create new economic opportunities for farmers. The grants will impact over 6,000 schools and 2.8 million students nationwide.

Acting FNCS Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps today highlighted the vital work FNS has done this year to provide food assistance to the millions of Americans impacted by unprecedented hurricanes and wildfires, as well as the numerous actions FNCS has taken to promote self-sufficiency, integrity, and customer service within federal nutrition programs.

U.S. Virgin Islands households recovering from Hurricanes Irma and Maria may be eligible for food purchasing assistance through the USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Puerto Rico families struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria have started receiving assistance in the form of food boxes packed with nutritious, 100 percent American grown and produced USDA Foods.

USDA approved a temporary waiver that will allow SNAP participants in the United States Virgin Islands to buy hot foods with their benefits through November 13.

New resources for nutrition education and food service training are coming to schools during this back to school season in 11 states selected to receive a total of $5.3 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture grants awarded today.

Secretary Sonny Perdue today named three individuals to take on leadership roles within the USDA's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. Brandon Lipps will serve as the Administrator  and also as Acting Deputy Under Secretary until the Senate confirms a permanent presidential-nominated appointee.  In addition, Maggie Lyons will serve as Chief of Staff and senior advisor to the Under Secretary, while Kailee Tkacz will serve as policy advisor. 

USDA today announced the award of $31.5 million in Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Grants to explore ways to alleviate hunger among low-income children during the summer, including new projects in Texas and Tennessee. Rigorous evaluations of continuing projects have found that Summer EBT can significantly reduce very low food security among children, the most severe form of food insecurity, by one-third.

USDA today announced the seven retail firms selected to take part in a pilot designed to enable SNAP participants to purchase their groceries online. The two-year pilot is slated to begin this summer. 

USDA today awarded $16.8 million in competitive grants to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants increase their purchases of fruits and vegetables. The funding comes from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and administered by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Today, Under Secretary Kevin Concannon announced a new publication that will help enhance access to healthy foods for residents of low-income neighborhoods. The Healthy Corner Stores Guide provides information, strategies and resources for organizations interested in making healthy foods and beverages available in corner stores within their communities.