Food Programs

Food Banks

Food banks in the United States are centralized warehouses that collect, sort, and store food and distribute it to member agencies. Member agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, child care agencies, senior centers, and residential programs. Food banking began in Phoenix, Arizona, as an outgrowth of a church-sponsored soup kitchen. In 1967, a group of local volunteers from St. Mary's Catholic Church expanded the feeding program's functions to include the solicitation and storage of large amounts [Page 164]of edible but unmarketable food. The resulting operation became a clearinghouse that redistributed food to other charitable programs in the area. It was as much a conservation program aimed at eliminating food waste as a charitable effort to feed hungry people, and the originators envisioned the creation of a national network of food banks linked by a central solicitation and coordination agent. In 1979, Second Harvest was incorporated as the organizational link between the three food banks that had developed in addition to the Phoenix prototype. Second Harvest was originally funded through federal grants from the now-defunct Community Services Administration and later through the Department of Health and Human Services. By 1984, the Second Harvest budget was funded totally through food bank fees and private-sector support. Second Harvest solicits food from large national firms and distributes it among certified food banks. Because of the Tax Reform Act of 1976, corporate donors can take advantage of tax deductions for their contributions—for 100 percent of production costs and 50 percent of the difference between the product cost and the normal sale price. The Good Samaritan Act, passed by Congress in 1981, serves as the model for similar state legislation and absolves donors from liability for a product's safety, as long as they make an effort to determine that the food is edible and fit for human consumption when donated. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 expanded inventory-costing rules, which provided additional tax deductions. There are numerous administrative requirements associated with tracking and receipting national and local food donations.

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