The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (P.L. 98-92) amended the original Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983

Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983

The Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 was a supplemental appropriations act for FY1983 that among other things explicitly authorized a discretionary commodity donation effort begun in 1981 by the USDA. The initial effort was limited to disposal of excess commodities held by the...

 (P.L. 98-8) to authorize multi-year funding

Funding

Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money , or other values such as effort or time , for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions...

 and commodity

Commodity

In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....

 donation

Donation

A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...

s from excess Commodity Credit Corporation

Commodity Credit Corporation

The Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices"...

 (CCC) inventories of foodstuffs for food distribution

Food distribution

Food distribution, a method of distributing or transporting food or drink from one place to another, is a very important factor in public nutrition. Where it breaks down, famine, malnutrition or illness can occur...

 by emergency feeding organization

Emergency feeding organization

An emergency feeding organization is an organization serving the food needs of the poor and unemployed that is designated by a state as eligible for commodities and administrative support to distribute commodities or operate a meal service program under the Emergency Food Assistance Program ....

s serving the needy and homeless (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.). It subsequently was amended in 1985, 1988, 1990, 1996 and 2002 under the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171, Sec. 4126, Sec. 4204).

The law authorizes funding through FY2007 to buy and donate commodities and to provide grants for state and local costs of transporting, storing, and distributing them to emergency feeding organizations, soup kitchen

Soup kitchen

A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...

s, and food bank

Food bank

A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...

s serving low-income persons. In addition to discretionary funds authorized to be appropriated by this law, there is a requirement that $100 million of food stamp appropriations be used annually to buy commodities for emergency feeding organizations.