107-171 ), the first since 1996, reauthorized appropriations for and substantially revised the Food Stamp program and a number of other domestic food aid programs. As a historical source and in the expectation that some of the same nutrition program issues and provisions of law addressed in 2002 will again come up—and that the effects of the changes made in 2002 will be explored in designing any 2007 farm bill—this report lays out in some detail what happened in 2002. Nutrition Programs and Activities Covered by the Farm Bill

Farm bills typically cover the following nutrition/domestic food assistance programs and activities, all within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:
the Food Stamp program, operated under the Food Stamp Act; inflation-indexed nutrition assistance block grant programs, included in the Food Stamp Act, for Puerto Rico and American Samoa—that are operated in lieu of the regular Food Stamp program; the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)—offered, under the Food Stamp Act, in lieu of the regular Food Stamp program to those tribal organizations that choose it; The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), governed by provisions of the Food Stamp Act and the Emergency Food Assistance Act; the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), authorized under Sections 4 and 5 of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 and Section 1114(a)(2) of the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 (i.e., the 1973 and 1981 farm bills); Community Food Projects, established under the Food Stamp Act; and rules governing the provision of federally acquired food commodities to domestic feeding programs (e.g., school meal programs). It established a Fruit and Vegetable pilot program for schools and authorized a program to increase domestic consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. It set aside funding to be used to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables for schools. It authorized Congressional Hunger Fellowships. It included provisions to encourage schools to purchase locally produced foods. It changed eligibility rules affecting military families applying for free or reduced-price school meals and benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (the WIC program). Overview of Nutrition Programs in the 2002 Farm Bill

The 2002 farm bill—the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA) of 2002 ( P.L. However, it went well beyond the House measure, primarily by:
Expanding eligibility for noncitizens (more extensively than proposed by the Administration); Setting up state options to: establish when eligibility will be redetermined, reduce recipient reporting requirements, simplify benefit calculations, and conform asset eligibility rules with TANF and Medicaid standards; Increasing benefits for recipients with very high shelter costs; Liberalizing and simplifying work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs); Ending limits on spending of work/training funds and changing the federal share of this spending; and, Permitting use of food stamp benefits to buy dietary supplements. It also included some new initiatives. Significant New State Options in Administering the Food Stamp Program

Five provisions of Title IV provided states with new options to vary from regular food stamp rules. Title IV did not have a provision (suggested in the Senate bill) to raise benefits for those with very high shelter costs. Title IV did not include a change (put forth in the Senate bill) to allow states to conform their method of reviewing households' food stamp eligibility to the method used for other public assistance programs.
Among the titles dealing with farm-support and other agriculture-related issues, Title IV of the 2002 farm bill (the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act; P.L. 107-171) reauthorized appropriations for and substantially revised the Food Stamp program. It also included provisions affecting several other domestic food aid programs/activities operated under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture that have typically been included in farm bills: nutrition assistance block grants to Puerto Rico and American Samoa, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), Community Food Projects, and rules governing foods used in domestic feeding programs such as the School Lunch program. Beyond this traditional array of food assistance programs, the 2002 bill encompassed provisions for a new Seniors Farmers' Market program, a new Fruit and Vegetables pilot program, a set-aside to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables for schools, a Congressional Hunger Fellows program, the purchase of locally produced food, and changed eligibility rules for free and reduced-price school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (the WIC program).
As a historical source and in the expectation that the issues raised in and the results of actions taken during consideration of the 2002 farm bill may come up again in the next scheduled farm bill (2007), this report presents in some detail what happened with regard to nutrition programs in 2002.
The nutrition title of the 2002 farm bill (Title IV): substantially expanded food stamp eligibility for legally resident noncitizens (the single largest change), liberalized food stamp benefits and eligibility rules, provided new options for states to vary from regular Food Stamp program rules, greatly changed the system for penalizing states with high rates of erroneous benefit and eligibility determinations, increased funding for TEFAP and CSFP, and, as noted above, introduced several new programs. It was estimated to cost $2.7 billion to $2.8 billion over FY2002-FY2007. However, a number of issues were raised but not addressed: Administration requests to loosen the food stamp asset test as it relates to vehicles and to limit state options to make public assistance recipients automatically eligible for food stamps, a provision to increase benefits for those with very high shelter costs, recommendations to open up work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, a change to allow states to conform their method of reviewing households' food stamp eligibility to the method used for other public assistance programs, and a proposal to allow food stamps to be used for dietary supplements.
Overall, the basic themes of the nutrition title of the 2002 farm bill were expanded eligibility for legal noncitizens, more leeway for states to establish their own version of food stamp rules, and support for expanded availability of fresh fruit and vegetables.
This report will not be updated.