State agencies shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining secure control over coupons and cash for which the regulations designate them accountable. Except as otherwise provided in these regulations, any shortages or losses of coupons and cash shall strictly be a state agency liability and the state agency shall pay to FNS, upon demand, the amount of the lost or stolen coupons or cash, regardless of the circumstances.
Through CSFP, the Department provides nutritious commodities to help state and local agencies meet the nutritional needs of low-income elderly persons.
The National School Lunch Act states: “It is declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation's children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the states, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs.”