The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2018 Annual Report

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs that together affect the lives of millions of people. Accounting for $96.1 billion, or over two-thirds of USDA’s annual budget, these programs also represent a significant Federal investment. This report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to examine trends in U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018). It also highlights two recent Economic Research Service (ERS) reports: one that examines trends in the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity in the United States through 2017 and another that estimates the economic impacts of increased breastfeeding among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)