Section 43-1-41 - Regional food bank grant program; purpose; funding; use of grants; standards for food purchases made through program; allocation of money(1) As used in this section, the term "regional food banks" means the three (3) Feeding America partner food banks that serve Mississippi, including Feeding the Gulf Coast, Mid-South Food Bank, and Mississippi Food Network, which are nonprofit organizations that solicit, warehouse and redistribute eligible food to agencies in Mississippi that feed families and individuals who qualify based on federal guidelines.(2) Subject to the appropriation of federal funds for that purpose, the Department of Human Services shall establish a grant program for regional food banks to provide annual grant funding to the regional food banks for the purchase, transportation, storage and distribution of food in Mississippi. Grants shall be made from federal funds available to the department for such purpose. Grants made pursuant to the program shall be used only for the purchase of food or agricultural commodities for repackaging or processing, or both, of food for distribution to emergency food providers serving Mississippi and program participants residing in Mississippi.(3) The department shall administer the program and shall use not more than one percent (1%) of the funds made available for the program for expenses of administering the program.(4) All food purchases made through the use of program funds shall be made in accordance with the following standards: (a) Procurement from Mississippi-based food sources shall be given preference when available and at a reasonable cost;(b) Food shall be purchased at wholesale prices or competitive bid prices or better; and(c) Funds for food and food provided through this program shall be used to supplement and not replace funds for food or food provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's federal commodities program.(5) The department shall allocate money to regional food banks based on population, food insecurity rates, and county service areas. The annual percentage formula for each nonprofit food bank shall be calculated on a pro rata basis by dividing the total number of food insecure persons in the food bank's service area by the total number of food insecure persons in the state. The data for this formula shall be derived from the latest available data from Feeding America.(6) Not more than seven percent (7%) of the grant funds made available through the program to a regional food bank shall be used by any regional food bank for the payment of administrative and incidental costs.(7) No regional food bank shall charge any person who is eligible under the program for food or encourage any eligible person to contribute money in order to receive food under the program.Added by Laws, 2021, ch. 307, SB 2221,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2021.