Food and Nutrition Service

Food and Nutrition Service
Agency overview
FormedAugust 8, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-08-08)
HeadquartersAlexandria, Virginia
Annual budget$189.03 billion (FY 2023)
Parent agencyUnited States Department of Agriculture
Child agency
Websitefns.usda.gov Edit this at Wikidata

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to address the issue of hunger in the United States.

FNS administers the programs through its headquarters in Alexandria, VA; regional offices in San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and Robbinsville (NJ); and field offices throughout the US. While its staff number among the USDA's fewest, its budget is by far the largest.

The Food and Nutrition Service is funded under the umbrella of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.[1] In 2019, $27 billion was allocated for discretionary funding for USDA, which is spread out over many services including WIC, food safety, and other services.[2] Of the expected people to be served in 2019, the estimate for SNAP recipients is 40.8 million, 30 million to have received school lunches, 15 million to have received school breakfast, 6.6 million participating in WIC, and 690,000 elderly people receiving Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

  1. ^ Scott, Arthur (February 28, 2019). "Maintain Funding for USDA Rural Development Programs". NACo. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  2. ^ "FY 2020 Budget Summary" (PDF).