March 12, 2007 

 

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro The Honorable Jack Kingston 

Chair Ranking Member 

Appropriations Subcommittee on Appropriations Subcommittee on 

Agriculture, Rural Development Agriculture, Rural Development 

and Related Agencies and Related Agencies 

Room 2362-A Rayburn HOB Room 2362 Rayburn HOB 

Washington, DC 20515-6016 Washington, DC 20515-6016 

 

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Kingston, 

 

We respectfully ask that you allocate $157.4 million in the FY08 Agriculture 
Appropriations Bill for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). The CSFP 
provides monthly nutritional aid packages to 508,000 low-income seniors, women and 
children. Unfortunately, the President’s Budget again targeted the program for 
elimination. 

 

The CSFP provides nutritious food boxes that are designed to meet the dietary needs of 
seniors, women, infants and children in 32 states, two Indian Tribal organizations and the 
District of Columbia. In FY06, 90 percent of recipients of this program were elderly 
individuals, all with income levels at or below $12,740 per year. For home-bound 
seniors and those lacking access to transportation the CSFP has the added benefit of 
providing food box delivery directly to homes. 

 

As in the FY07 administration budget proposal, this year’s proposal would have current 
recipients enroll in a transitional food stamp program once the CSFP is eliminated. For 
these indigent recipients, food stamp vouchers are not an acceptable replacement to the 
program. The CSFP packages are often a supplement to one’s food stamp benefit. 
Eliminating the program would endanger the health of home-bound individuals and 
would mean many seniors would see a monthly food benefit of only $20. The CSFP food 
packages that enrollees currently receive have a retail value of approximately $50. 

 

Despite the Bush Administration’s FY07 recommendation to terminate the program, 
Congress funded the CSFP at $106.9 million in the Appropriations Continuing 
Resolution. In order to continue and expand service to those challenged by hunger, we 
respectfully request that you fund this program at $157.4 million, the amount requested 
by the National CSFP Association, in FY08. This funding level would allow the program 
to expand to five additional states and would help serve an additional 100,000 individuals 
in states with existing CSFP programs. 

 

The CSFP is not a luxury; rather it is a necessity to prevent hundreds of thousands of 
seniors, women and children from going hungry throughout the country. We urge you to 
keep these individuals in mind as you consider appropriations requests. 

 

Sincerely, 


Julia Carson 

Member of Congress