TEFAP Resources

It is a requirement of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that all recipients of their commodities and/or funding comply with and enforce the prohibition against discrimination in all FNS nutrition programs and activities, whether federally funded in whole or not. View the  USDA’s Nondiscrimination Policy statement  for the language to post. The USDA has a process for anyone seeking to file a complaint. The process is detailed here. The complaint form is also available in Spanish.

View  our most recent presentation for network partners on TEFAP requirements and procedures. View slides from the presentation here.

Download and review the program overview and checklist.

Pantries should follow this TEFAP Eligibility Flow Chart  to assure TEFAP product is offered to all eligible households. This guidance does not apply to meal programs. Any individual receiving meals at an emergency shelter or soup kitchen is automatically considered eligible for TEFAP. 

Pantries should use this guidance to track self-declarations for all households receiving TEFAP product. This guidance does not apply to meal programs.

• New guidance coming soon

Pantries should use these forms when distributing TEFAP. This guidance does not apply to meal programs.

• Electronic TEFAP Participation Log & Stats Spreadsheet revised 4-25
• Non-Electronic TEFAP Participation Log revised 4-25

• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in English Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Spanish Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Albanian Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Arabic Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Bengali Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Chinese (Simplified) Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Dari Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in French Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Haitian Creole Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Laotion Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Pashto Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Polish Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Portuguese Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Russian Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Ukrainian Rev 4/25
• TEFAP Self-Declaration Receipt in Vietnamese Rev 4/25 

All agencies that obtain USDA foods must display the “And Justice For All” poster  where individuals visiting you for food can see it. If you need a poster, please contact your Network Relations Representative. It is not acceptable to post an 8.5 x 11 copy of the poster.

TEFAP Civil Rights Training  – required for each person involved in distributing TEFAP food at each participating program. The training is available in English and Spanish at the link above.

Be sure to enter both your email and the email address of the primary contact at the organization for which you work/volunteer. You and the primary contact will receive a certificate of completion by email. Connecticut Foodshare will also receive a copy of the certificate.

If you have volunteers with no access to a computer: Print the Civil Rights training manual in English  and  Spanish  to use for training and then have the trainee complete the Civil Rights Documentation of Training form.

Written Notice of Beneficiary Rights in English Rev 7-24  (Spanish version coming soon)

For additional guidance, read the UDSA Memorandum.

For questions regarding Civil Rights Requirements visit the USDA Civil Rights Page: https://www.fns.usda.gov/civil-rights.

Sample TEFAP Agreement rev 2025