USDA responds with free school meal and help for farmers

USDA announced North Carolina schools affected by Hurricane Florence will now be able to feed students free school meals provided by USDA’s National School Lunch Program through October 26. This and additional measures will potentially benefit 31 school districts and over 284,000 children. USDA has allowed the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to operate summer meal programs during this unanticipated school closure. As part of this special flexibility, the food bank may serve meals that vary from the program’s regular standards. Due to the damage to roadways, communities, and other infrastructure, the food bank may also allow children to take meals home to eat through September 30.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue stated, “USDA has important roles in both response to hurricanes and recovery efforts. USDA has staffed the Regional Response Coordination Center in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region IV, which covers eight states including North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. It will provide 24-hour staffing to the FEMA National Response Coordination Center, and has personnel supporting the North Carolina and South Carolina State Emergency Operations Centers. Our farmers and ranchers take financial risks every year to help feed and clothe the U.S. and the world, and a hurricane makes their situations even more perilous.”

USDA recently launched a disaster assistance discovery tool through its new website Farmers.gov that walks producers through five questions to help them identify personalized results of which USDA disaster assistance programs can help them recover after a natural disaster.

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers many safety-net programs to help producers recover from eligible losses by provides funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters.

Announced assistance for those affected by Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence/

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina and Kinston, North Carolina yesterday. While in Raleigh, she met with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to discuss ongoing response and recovery efforts and tour impacted areas.

She also visited the #North Carolina emergency operations center and meet with personnel to receive a briefing on Hurricane Florence response and recovery efforts in the area. While in Kinston, Secretary Nielsen took an aerial tour of impacted areas.

Since Hurricane Florence made landfall last Thursday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed over 2,000 FEMA personnel and 71 teams in support of affected states. FEMA continues to work with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to respond to Florence.

President Donald J. Trump continues to work with officials and declared a Major Disaster for North and South Carolina as a result of #Hurricane Florence, over the weekend.

As a results of this, yesterday, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue approved a temporary waiver that will allow participants in the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in North Carolina to buy hot foods with their benefits through October 31, 2018. Noting that SNAP authorized retailers may need 24-36 hours to be ready to accept SNAP benefits for hot foods due to programming changes that may be required at their stores.

USDA also approved a waiver on September 16 to allow extended time for SNAP participants to submit claims for food lost in the disaster. Affected households in North Carolina now have until October 15 to report food losses and request replacement benefits so they can purchase food to make up for what

was lost in the storm.