Newsroom

In appreciation of breastfeeding individuals and of all the dedicated volunteers, professionals, communities, and organizations who support their efforts, I, Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, do hereby proclaim August 1–7, 2022, as National WIC Breastfeeding Week.

The USDA is extending a key funding flexibility in the WIC program that has allowed state agencies and their infant formula manufacturers to work together to provide more options for WIC families in need of formula.

Since Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary infant formula recall to address health and safety concerns at its Sturgis, Michigan manufacturing plant, the Biden-Harris Administration has been working around the clock to ensure that safe and nutritious infant formula is available to every family that needs it.

FNS awarded Maine a grant as part of the first round of FMNP Benefit Delivery Modernization Grants.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service today awarded Kentucky a grant as part of the first round of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Benefit Delivery Modernization Grants.

USDA is offering nationwide waivers to increase access to infant formula for families in need as states receive and distribute imported infant formula made available by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Operation Fly Formula.

In its continued efforts to get formula to families in need, the USDA is encouraging state agencies and their infant formula manufacturers to consider seeking temporary flexibility in their infant formula contracts to allow WIC participants to purchase alternate sizes, forms, or brands of infant formula during the current shortage.

As the President directed, the Department of Agriculture will immediately begin coordinating with the Department of Defense and expand its coordination with our Health and Human Services counterparts to get safe formula on store shelves as quickly as possible.  

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s coordinated drive to end the infant formula shortage, USDA is urging states to take advantage of flexibilities the department is offering in to help WIC families get the safe formula they need.

FNS announced today that it will interpret the prohibition on discrimination based on sex found in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended, SNAP to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2023. The President’s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address—to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.

During a visit to Columbia University and in celebration of National Nutrition Month, Secretary Vilsack today announced a report detailing USDA's Actions on Nutrition Security. 

USDA today announced that it has granted additional flexibilities in response to the impact of the 2022 Abbott recall of certain powder infant formula provided through WIC.  

Secretary Tom Vilsack issued the following statement highlighting key accomplishments to promote food and nutrition security at the Department of Agriculture since the Biden-Harris Administration took office.

FNS today reflected on its efforts over the past year to ensure households across the country have access to a nutritious diet. Throughout the first year of the Biden-Harris Administration, FNS bolstered its nutrition assistance programs through a wide range of administrative actions and with the unprecedented $12 billion investment in food assistance provided by the American Rescue Plan Act.

FNS is committed to promoting equity and inclusion through its federal nutrition assistance programs and today, is celebrating advancements made over the past year while acknowledging the long journey ahead. Throughout the past year, the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA have worked side-by-side to provide those in need with better, fairer access to a healthy diet, with a focus on closing gaps in access for historically disadvantaged and underserved populations.