TEFAP and TEFAP CCC Foods Update
WSDA Food Assistance (FA) has been responding to inquiries about the potential reduction in the amount of TEFAP Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) coming into the system. There has been a lot of news media coverage around this, and we wanted to provide you with additional information about this and what we are projecting for all TEFAP fund sources (Entitlement, Bonus, and CCC).
TEFAP CCC made up a significant portion of all the USDA food we have received over the last several years. This helped address the growing need for food that families depended upon at their local food pantry or meal program – TEFAP reaches over one-million people in our state every month.
While these cancelled orders are very disappointing, WSDA remains committed to supporting agricultural viability and food access and continues to monitor and support state and federal decisions and opportunities accordingly.
We will continue to pursue strategies that support the win/win of purchasing quality WA foods to increase food access for lower income Washingtonians with the resources we have.
For context: WSDA FA uses a federal ordering system called WEBSCM to get updates on funding status. When an order is expected, a staff person can log into the system and download a report. That report provides the status update of all WA State TEFAP food orders.
On February 26, 2025, WSDA Food Assistance staff reviewed a food order status report from USDA and learned that this order status had changed to “returned for review” for TEFAP CCC foods. WSDA Food Assistance staff contacted colleagues at USDA at that time, but they were not able to provide any additional information other than that these orders were under review. For some additional context: If something is “returned for review,” it basically means that the orders were in process (solicitation, order, purchase) but then changed to returned for review, which it stopped the process.
Last week, WSDA Food Assistance noticed that these orders had “new” delivery dates beyond the April – June timeframe and were hopeful that this meant better news in terms of a delay versus a cancellation. This is what we reported out on at the FA General Check-In Meeting. To be clear, we have not received any direct communications from USDA.
On March 25, WSDA Food Assistance observed through the federal ordering system, WEBSCM, that the status for $4.7 million in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) commodities that were on order for delivery April through June changed from “under review” to “cancelled.” Federally procured foods that will not be received in Washington as a result include: milk, dried plums, dried cranberries, canned chicken, turkey breasts, and chicken breasts.
We are not seeing or hearing any changes in “regular” TEFAP. Here is another way to look at it based on our current projections and “estimates”:
TEFAP CCC made up a significant portion of all the USDA food we have received over the last several years. This helped address the growing need for food that families depended upon at their local food pantry or meal program – TEFAP reaches over one-million people in our state every month.
While these cancelled orders are very disappointing, WSDA remains committed to supporting agricultural viability and food access and continues to monitor and support state and federal decisions and opportunities accordingly.
We will continue to pursue strategies that support the win/win of purchasing quality WA foods to increase food access for lower income Washingtonians with the resources we have.
For context: WSDA FA uses a federal ordering system called WEBSCM to get updates on funding status. When an order is expected, a staff person can log into the system and download a report. That report provides the status update of all WA State TEFAP food orders.
On February 26, 2025, WSDA Food Assistance staff reviewed a food order status report from USDA and learned that this order status had changed to “returned for review” for TEFAP CCC foods. WSDA Food Assistance staff contacted colleagues at USDA at that time, but they were not able to provide any additional information other than that these orders were under review. For some additional context: If something is “returned for review,” it basically means that the orders were in process (solicitation, order, purchase) but then changed to returned for review, which it stopped the process.
Last week, WSDA Food Assistance noticed that these orders had “new” delivery dates beyond the April – June timeframe and were hopeful that this meant better news in terms of a delay versus a cancellation. This is what we reported out on at the FA General Check-In Meeting. To be clear, we have not received any direct communications from USDA.
On March 25, WSDA Food Assistance observed through the federal ordering system, WEBSCM, that the status for $4.7 million in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) commodities that were on order for delivery April through June changed from “under review” to “cancelled.” Federally procured foods that will not be received in Washington as a result include: milk, dried plums, dried cranberries, canned chicken, turkey breasts, and chicken breasts.
We are not seeing or hearing any changes in “regular” TEFAP. Here is another way to look at it based on our current projections and “estimates”:
| FFY 2025 TEFAP Projected Foods - State of Washington | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEFAP Source | Ordered/Received | Cancelled | Remaining | 2025 Total | 2024 Total |
Difference between
2025 and 2024
|
| TEFAP Entitlement | $ 6,812,174.61 | $ 1,526,849.16 | $ 8,339,023.77 | $ 8,411,819.58 | $ (72,795.81) | |
| TEFAP Bonus | $ 9,389,068.46 | $ 7,610,931.54 | $ 17,000,000.00 | $ 18,196,577.37 | $ (1,196,577.37) | |
| TEFAP CCC | $ 8,401,204.24 | $ (4,732,347.84) | $3,668,856.40 | $ 20,796,312.36 | $ (17,127,455.96) | |
| Total TEFAP | $ 24,602,447.31 | $ (4,732,347.84) | $ 9,137,780.70 | $ 29,007,880.17 | $ 47,404,709.31 | $ (18,396,826.14) |