HFPA Warns Against Cut to Federal Anti-Hunger Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HFPA Warns Against Cut to Federal Anti-Hunger Program

 CSFP is a proven success that serves as a lifeline for many low-income Pennsylvania seniors

HARRISBURG, Pa. (May 21, 2025) – Potential cuts to a federal anti-hunger program could have an outsized effect on Pennsylvania, which has the fourth largest allocated caseload of Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) participants in the United States, behind only California, Texas, and Michigan.

In the commonwealth, Hunger-Free Pennsylvania administers CSFP as part of the Senior Food Box Program to have healthy, nutritious meals distributed to seniors in need. More than 38,000 Pennsylvania seniors receive regular and consistent shelf-stable nourishment every month through the program.

“We must at all costs preserve the critical and vital safety net that CSFP provides for our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians – our seniors,” Hunger-Free Pennsylvania Executive Director Stuart I.R. Haniff, MHA, said.

Hunger-Free Pennsylvania is urging congressional leaders to preserve CSFP in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill to maintain, at a minimum, the program’s current caseload.

“If Congress fails to fully fund this program, our most vulnerable seniors will lose access to the nutritious food they need to live healthier lives,” Haniff said.

CSFP delivers nutritious U.S. Department of Agriculture food packages to low-income seniors at least 60 years of age with a household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines. For example, to qualify, the annual income for a household of one senior is $23,475 (based on CSFP Income Guidelines).

In Pennsylvania, the home delivery aspect of the Senior Food Box Program has been a resounding success, recently surpassing more than 250,000 deliveries in partnership with DoorDash’s Project DASH. Often, the contact with a home delivery representative is the only human contact these seniors have – and sometimes the only eyes to check on them and their well-being.

“The program is a proven success with a dedicated and established infrastructure of food banks, volunteers, and logistic support to ensure the senior food boxes are received each month by those in need,” Haniff said. “The proposal to dismantle CSFP is a solution looking for a problem. There is no problem.”

Seniors often face barriers accessing food assistance programs because they cannot get to them or use the technology they need to access care. CSFP overcomes those barriers by delivering food boxes from food banks and food pantries directly to seniors' doorsteps.

Food insecurity among seniors contributes to malnutrition, which exacerbates disease, increases disability, decreases resistance to infection, and extends hospital stays. Malnutrition increases care-giving demands and inflates health-care expenditures associated with premature or extended hospital or nursing home stays.

CSFP is authorized to operate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and eight Indian Tribal Organizations. In Pennsylvania, the program covers all 67 counties, including 48 rural counties, often the most inaccessible. More than 707,000 seniors benefit from CSFP in each and every state, every month.

Hunger-Free Pennsylvania’s 18 food banks serve all 67 counties in the commonwealth. For more information, visit www.pafoodbanks.org.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:               Stuart I.R. Haniff, MHA

Executive Director | Hunger-Free Pennsylvania

(c): 412.290.3045 | shaniff@pafoodbanks.org

www.pafoodbanks.org

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