The Farm Bill and the USDA Food Program

The Farm Bill that they are currently wrangling over in Congress also includes money to support the USDA Food Program.

Now I have often mentioned the Food Bank at Gassaway when talking about the School Lunch Program because it is the source of the USDA foods that are given and delivered to each of the Schools in Braxton County. When asked how many places said Food Bank in Braxton delivered said “free” USDA approved foods to, …… I did not know the answer.

But now I do, thanks to a Gazette story this morning …… and I will pass on same to you.
The Mountaineer Food Bank in Braxton County distributes donated (USDA) food to ..... 493 pantries and feeding facilities in 48 counties of West Virginia.

To wit:

Gas prices hit food banks

Donations down drastically, directors say

The working poor are the hardest hit, she said. "People sometimes think Covenant House is for homeless people, but we also work to prevent homelessness," she said. When costs for food, utilities and transportation go up, they eat into the incomes of the working poor.

Carla Nardella, executive director of the Mountaineer Food Bank in Braxton County, said donations from small donors are down.

"They have already given at the pump," she said. "Food donations are down drastically."

The food bank has three tractor trailers and one refrigerated truck that need diesel fuel to distribute donated food to 493 pantries and feeding facilities in 48 counties.

Diesel fuel is more expensive now than regular gasoline. When she compared figures from the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, Nardella discovered that her fuel costs increased 43.6 percent.

Fuel costs are also a problem for ……………………

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200805220724

Relative to the above "free food distribution", .... on the “News” page of the On-line Gazette, I thought it was “cute” that these two story “headlines” were side-by-side as noted below.

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Gas prices hit food banks 1:00 am EDT
Obesity down among W.Va. children 1:00 am EDT
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