our Policy Priorities
At the federal level, our policy priorities include:
1. Pass a strong Farm Bill that includes vital provisions such as increased nutrition and agriculture funding and strengthening programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program(CSFP), and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to meet rising food needs.
2. Make Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) a permanent program. LFPA helps food banks provide fresh, nutritious food from local, underserved farmers—particularly farmers in marginalized communities—to neighbors we serve.
3. Pass a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act that strengthens Child Nutrition Programs, especially during out-of-school times when childhood hunger rates increase.
At the state level, our policy priorities include:
1. Maintain SNAP Benefits for Kentuckians. SNAP is a lifeline for millions of Americans, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
2. Fund the Farms to Food Banks program. Farms to Food Banks supports farmers and Kentuckians experiencing hunger. It allows us to distribute a wide variety of nutritious local food to our neighbors.
3. Support the expansion of school meals. 1 in 4 kids in our service area are food insecure, and for many children, school meals are the only meals they will eat throughout the day.
4. Remove Transportation Excise Tax for Food Banks. The Transportation Excise Tax places an undue financial burden on the Food Bank, which relies heavily on the transport of goods to serve Kentucky communities. By eliminating this tax for the network of food banks, we can allocate more resources toward our mission of reducing hunger.
