FNS meaning in Community ?
Answer: What is Food and Nutrition Service mean?
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. 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. 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 (CSFP).
The FNS uses grants to distribute funds to companies that compete to provide services for the agency. For noncompetitive awards, grants may also be awarded using a technical evaluation. During a Request for Application Funding Announcement (RFA), the FNS releases a Request for Applications (RFA) outlining program goals, requirements, and timetables. Solicitors may submit their applications for consideration. Applications are reviewed for completeness, risk assessment, eligibility, and cost analysis. Potential candidates then undergo a negotiation process. Selected recipients then are awarded the grant, which is further subjected to post-award monitoring and auditing to ensure the grant requirements are being fulfilled. Any conflicts in the process are handled by the Grants Management Office. At the closeout of the grant, a final review is conducted to ensure all aspects of the negotiations have been met.
Partnership programs exist within the FNS that encourage entities that are either non-profit, faith-based, government, or corporate that want to contribute to ending hunger. Through volunteering time, by donations and grants to supporting programs, encourage local purchase/selling of produce and products, or by providing food to those in needs through a financial reimbursement program, the FNS encourages all communities to participate. A Partnership Agreement Form is necessary to provide recognition between the FNS and the providing entity.
An "Ask the Expert" page is available to answer common questions and provide direction on where to find information. Everything from information about where to find food recalls, FNS program support, import/exporting plants, farmer support, conservation, civil rights, and many other topics are cataloged and available for searching. For information not found, questions can be submitted for a program expert to reply to you via email.
The FNS, like all related government programs, actively encourage the reporting of fraud at any level to reduce improper use of federal funds. In addition to reporting fraud to the USDA Office of Inspector General directly, every state has contact points to report unlawful fraud. The Civil Rights Division is charged with ensuring lawful and timely delivery of services for all their employees and customers.
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