Economist says food box program good for dairy, expects more boxes

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Economist says food box program good for dairy, expects more boxes

A University of Wisconsin dairy economist says the Farmers to Families Food Box program helped growers and consumers, but he is disappointed more of the stimulus money allocated for food assistance was not used.

Mark Stephenson leads the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Profitability. “Of the one and a half billion dollars that was made available for food box programs, only about 350-million dollars was actually allocated.”

Stephenson says of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program or CFAP dollars spent, dairy products account for more than 20% of the spending.  He says that is more for dairy than most SNAP program participants would choose if shopping for themselves. “Something like 15% of those dollars were spent on dairy products, so the food box program targeted a bit more money toward dairy than people might make under a SNAP program.”

Stephenson says the food box program is in its 5^th round now, and he expects the unspent funds will fund additional food boxes later.