- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 41534
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
This Act is P.L. 88-525 (August 31, 1964)which provided permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, which had been administratively implemented on a pilot basis in 1962. It was later replaced and completely rewritten and revised by the food stamp provisions of the Food and Agricultural Act of 1977 (Title XIII), which eliminated the purchase requirement and simplified eligibility requirements. Amendments were made to this Act in 1981-82, 1984-85, 1988, 1990, and 1994. Most recently, the 1996 omnibus welfare reform law (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, PRWORA) incorporated the most extensive changes to the food stamp program since the 1977 rewrite of the law. This was followed by more changes including the 1997 Balanced Budget Act (P.L. 105-33) and the 1998 agricultural, research, extension, and education reform law (P.L. 105-185). The current Food Stamp Act includes authority through FY2002 for the regular food stamp program, for nutrition assistance grants to Puerto Rico and American Samoa (in lieu of food stamps), and for commodity purchases for the emergency food assistance program.
Industry:Agriculture
This program supplements the food buying power of eligible low-income households by providing them with monthly benefits through coupons or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. Eligibility is governed primarily by a household’s financial resources (e.g., income eligibility generally is limited to those with total cash income below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines). However, applicants and recipients also must meet some non-financial requirements — e.g., the eligibility of noncitizens is limited, work requirements are imposed on most adults. In general, benefits may be used to purchase any food item for home consumption in an approved food concern. The regular food stamp program operates in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Variants of the regular program (funded through nutrition assistance grants) operate in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas. Food stamps and nutrition assistance grants are administered by the Food and Nutrition Service and are funded as entitlements by annual agriculture appropriations acts.
Industry:Agriculture
When calculating a household’s monthly food stamp benefit, food stamp rules require calculation of its net income, with lower net income amounts (larger deductions) producing higher food stamp benefits. This calculation is done by subtracting a series of dollar deductions from the household’s total cash monthly income, so as to better reflect the amount of money the household has available for food spending. Food stamp deductions include: (1) a "standard deduction" ($134 a month) that is subtracted for all recipients, (2) an earned income deduction (20% of any earnings) in recognition of taxes and work expenses, (3) a deduction for dependent care expenses related to work or training (up to certain limits), (4) a deduction for child support payments, (5) a deduction for medical expenses above $35 a month (only available to elderly and disabled recipients), and (6) a deduction for excessively high shelter expenses (those above roughly one-third of a household’s income, up to certain limits).
Industry:Agriculture
This Act is P.L. 101-624 (November 28, 1990) which was a 5-year omnibus farm bill. It continued to move agriculture in a market-oriented direction by freezing target prices and allowing more planting flexibility. New titles included rural development, forestry, organic certification, and commodity promotion programs. The law established a Rural Development Administration (RDA) in the USDA to administer programs relating to rural and small community development. It extended and modified the Food Stamp Program and other domestic nutrition programs and made major changes in the operation of P.L. 480. It revised existing law involving agricultural trade credits and guarantees. The FACT Act was soon altered by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act Amendments of 1991 (P.L. 102-237) to correct errors and alleviate problems in implementing the law. The amendments allowed the Farm Credit Bank for Cooperatives to make loans for agricultural exports and established a new regulatory scheme and capital standards for the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). The law also established new handling requirements for eggs to help prevent food-borne illness. More policy changes were made by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993 (P.L. 103-66). This law intended to reduce federal farm spending by $3 billion over 5 years by eliminating USDA’s authority to waive minimum acreage set-aside requirements for wheat and corn, reducing deficiency payments to farmers participating in the 0/92 and 50/92 programs from 92% to 85% of the normal payment level, reducing the acreage to be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and Wetlands Reserve Program, and requiring improvement in the actuarial soundness of the federal crop insurance program. The measure also provided for a temporary moratorium on sales of synthetic bovine growth hormone and reduced the loan rate for soybeans. It reduced Market Promotion Program (MPP) funding through fiscal 1997 and provided for a series of significant MPP operational reforms. It also provided, among other provisions, for the designation of a series rural (and urban) empowerment and enterprise zones, eligible for special federal aid and tax credits.
Industry:Agriculture
Illnesses caused by pathogens that enter the human body where food is the carrier. In order of the incidence of cases, the leading pathogens are Campylobacter (bacteria commonly found in poultry), Salmonella (bacteria commonly found in poultry, eggs, meat, and milk), Shigella (bacteria transmitted through direct contact with an infected person, or from food or water contaminated by an infected person), E. coli 00157 (bacteria often found in cattle and transmitted through undercooked, contaminated ground beef), Yersinia (cause of diarrheal illness known to be most frequently associated with undercooked pork), Listeria (bacteria found in a variety of raw food, such as uncooked meats and vegetables, as well as in processed foods that become contaminated after processing), Vibrio (bacteria that can cause disease in those who eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to seawater).
Industry:Agriculture
A major disease of cloven-footed animals (e.g., cattle and pigs) that does not exist in the United States. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts a surveillance program to track the disease in foreign countries, regulates the importation of animal products from countries where FMD exists, and tests imported animals in quarantine.
Industry:Agriculture
Vegetable matter, fresh or preserved, that is gathered and fed to animals as roughage includes alfalfa hay, corn silage, and other hay crops.
Industry:Agriculture
A derived index of the relative change in the previous year’s average monthly rate per head for pasturing cattle on privately owned land in the West. Used in calculating federal grazing fees.
Industry:Agriculture
The USDA agency that administers agricultural export and food aid programs. FAS is also responsible for formulating agricultural trade policy, negotiating to reduce foreign agricultural trade barriers, and carrying out programs of international cooperation and technical assistance. The agency maintains a global network of agricultural officers (counselors and attaches) as well as a Washington-based staff to analyze and disseminate information on world agriculture and trade, develop and expand export markets, and represent the agricultural trade policy interests of U.S. producers in multilateral forums.
Industry:Agriculture
Provides authority to the Forest Service to prepare and update an assessment every 10 years to inventory and monitor the status and trends of the forest lands and range lands in the National Forest System, and to prepare a long-range plan every 5 years to guide Forest Service policies.
Industry:Agriculture
