Families affected by Hurricane Harvey will soon be able to receive food packages containing nutritious, high-quality foods–100 percent grown and produced on farms in the U.S.–known as USDA Foods.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the food boxes families will receive are a short-term measure designed to address an immediate need for food until a longer-term solution is ready to be put in place.
“People in Texas are hurting,” Perdue said. “And we at USDA are working hard with the State of Texas and our private sector partners to make sure that households displaced in the aftermath of this epic storm get the food they need.”
The Disaster Household Distribution program is approved to start Friday. The Texas Department of Agriculture will work directly with its partners, the Feeding Texas and local food banks, to issue food boxes to participants located in presidentially declared disaster areas.
“Texas has a true friend in the USDA and Secretary Perdue,” Commissioner Miller said. “In my conversations with him during this crisis he has assured me that Texas will have whatever it needs to recover and he’s made it happen. I can’t thank him enough.”
The food banks will utilize their current network of pantries to distribute foods in areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. Each of the packages will contain 25-30 pounds of USDA Foods and will be based on existing shelf-stable items in identified food banks.
For more information on the program, please visit: www.squaremeals.org
