The Department of Agriculture is sending $1 billion to the country’s food bank networks, seeking to expand the reach of the system and revamp the way food banks acquire and distribute aid.
The funding, announced Friday, comes half from the American Rescue Plan COVID stimulus bill and half from standard congressional appropriations. Like other aspects of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better initiative, the food bank plan openly seeks to use COVID recovery as a chance to reform a support system whose flaws were exposed by the pandemic.
“We must do more to improve partnerships and infrastructure that power emergency food distribution to ensure the food provided is nutritious and supports a better food system,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
