CSFP: The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Explained for Food Pantries

The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is the USDA program behind the monthly “senior box”. If your pantry already hands out TEFAP food, CSFP can look similar from the loading dock, but it is a different program with its own regulation, 7 CFR Part 247, and, unlike TEFAP, it runs on enrolment, certification and a fixed number of slots. This guide covers what the program is, who qualifies, how it differs from TEFAP, the records a local agency keeps, and exactly what PantryPOS does for a CSFP distribution. For the practical side of serving older adults (senior hours, delivery, proxies), see serving seniors at a food pantry.

What CSFP is

USDA describes CSFP as a program that “works to improve the health of persons with low-income, at least 60 years of age, by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA Foods.” The money and food flow through three levels:

• USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration (the CSFP pages now sit on fna.usda.gov) provides the USDA Foods, assigns each State a caseload and allocates administrative funds (7 CFR 247.3(a)).
• State agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations run the program. USDA’s fact sheet says they are typically departments of health, social services, education or agriculture, and that they store USDA Foods and distribute them to local agencies.
• Local agencies, which are public or nonprofit private organizations, “determine the eligibility of applicants, distribute the foods, and provide nutrition education,” and also refer participants to other programs such as SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare (FNA fact sheet). A pantry or food bank that hands out CSFP does so as a local agency or under one.

The food. The local agency must hand out a package of USDA Foods each month, or a two-month supply every other month, at the food package rates FNA sets (247.10(a)). The fact sheet lists foods such as milk, cheese, juice, farina, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, peanut butter, dry beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables, and says the packages “are supplemental and do not provide a complete diet.”

Where it runs. CSFP “operates in parts of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,” and through seven Indian Tribal Organizations, and USDA notes it “may not currently operate in all areas within each state.” An organization that wants to distribute it should contact its State distributing agency through USDA’s CSFP program contacts.

Caseload. CSFP serves a fixed number of people: caseload is “the number of persons the State agency may serve on an average monthly basis” over a caseload cycle running January 1 to December 31 (247.1, 247.2(b)). When every slot is filled, the local agency must keep a waiting list with the date of application and contact details, and tell applicants they are on it within 10 days (247.11(a)).

Who is eligible

At the program level, 7 CFR 247.9 sets the rules. Your State agency applies them and may add some of its own.

• Age 60 or older. “To be eligible for CSFP, individuals must be at least 60 years of age and meet the income eligibility requirements” (247.9(a)).
• Income at or below the State’s limit, which can be no higher than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines. “The State agency must use a household income limit at or below 150 percent of the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines” (247.9(b)). USDA’s final rule of October 31, 2024, Food Distribution Programs: Improving Access and Parity (89 FR 87228, effective December 30, 2024), set the maximum at 150% in the regulation, up from 130%. Some older USDA pages still say 130%, and USDA’s yearly income table shows both a 130% and a 150% column, so ask your State agency which limit it uses. The current dollar figures by household size are on USDA’s CSFP income guidelines page, which is updated each year.
• Other programs can show income. A State may accept as income-eligible anyone who documents that they are certified for SNAP, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, Supplemental Security Income, the Low Income Subsidy Program or the Medicare Savings Programs (247.9(b)(1)).
• Optional State conditions. A State may require nutritional risk, as determined by a physician or local agency staff, and may require that a person lives in the local agency’s service area, but not for any fixed period of time (247.9).
• Applying. The applicant gives name and address, “including some form of identification,” household income, household size and other eligibility information such as age, and signs an application with a required statement, including that they may not receive CSFP at more than one site at the same time (247.8).
• Certification period. The State sets certification periods of not less than one year and not more than three years; periods over a year need FNA approval and an annual check of address and continued interest (247.16(a)).

CSFP no longer enrols women, infants and children

CSFP used to serve low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children as well as older adults. Section 4102 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill) changed that: women, infants and children who applied on or after February 7, 2014 cannot be certified, so the program now serves only low-income people aged 60 and over. Those already certified and receiving CSFP on February 6, 2014 could keep receiving it until they were no longer eligible under the rules in effect on that date. USDA put this into the regulation in a final rule published July 9, 2014 (79 FR 38748).

How CSFP differs from TEFAP

Many pantries run both. The table is the short version; for TEFAP itself see TEFAP eligibility, the records TEFAP asks a pantry to keep and TEFAP rules State by State.

One rule applies to the handout itself: State and local agencies must not require or ask CSFP participants for “any payments, or ... any materials or services” for their food, and must verify the identity of the participant or the participant’s proxy before handing it over, following State requirements (247.10(b) and (c)).

Records a CSFP local agency keeps

7 CFR 247.29(a) requires State and local agencies to keep “accurate and complete records” relating to:

• the receipt, disposal and inventory of USDA Foods;
• the receipt and disbursement of administrative funds and other funds;
• eligibility determinations (the signed applications under 247.8);
• fair hearings and other program activities;
• liability for any improper distribution, use, loss of or damage to USDA Foods, and the results of any claims.

How long: “three years from the end of the fiscal year to which they pertain,” or until any related claim, audit or investigation is resolved, and available during normal business hours for reviews and audits (247.29(a)).

Other records the regulation implies or names:

• Annual physical inventory. A physical inventory of all USDA Foods at each storage and distribution site, once a year, reconciled with the inventory records and kept on file (247.28(b)).
• Waiting list with each applicant’s date of application and contact details (247.11(a)).
• Notices of denial or discontinuance with the right to a fair hearing (247.17, 247.33).
• Racial and ethnic participation. “Local agencies must submit a report of racial/ethnic participation each year, using the FNS-191” (247.29(b)(3)). The monthly participation and food report (FNS-153) is the State agency’s, built from what local agencies send it (247.29(b)(2)).

Your State agency agreement will say which forms it wants, how distribution is documented (for example, whether a signature is needed at each pickup) and how often to report. If you also keep monthly figures for your food bank, the free monthly report template keeps TEFAP and CSFP pounds on their own lines.

How PantryPOS supports CSFP

PantryPOS records CSFP distributions alongside everything else a pantry does. Here is what it does, taken from the application itself:

• CSFP as a service type on every visit. At checkout the clerk chooses the service (food pantry, TEFAP, “CSFP (senior box)”, mobile, produce or other), and it is saved on the visit.
• Signature at pickup. An admin setting, Pickup signatures (TEFAP / CSFP), turns on an on-screen signature pad at checkout: off, optional, or required (a visit cannot be completed without the signature).
• Signed distribution log. A CSV for any period, one row per completed distribution, with the date, household, household size, service type, who picked up (the household member on file or a named proxy), whether a signature was captured and when, and pounds; plus a printable version with each signature image.
• Authorized proxies. Proxy records hold the reason, the date the proxy form was signed, whether ID was checked and an optional expiry; an expired proxy cannot be chosen.
• Visits split by service type in the reports, the network export and the API, so CSFP visits can be counted separately.
• Race and ethnicity as optional client fields, for statistical purposes only (the intake screen notes that TEFAP does not require them and CSFP does), and household members’ dates of birth or ages.
• Civil-rights complaint log with CSFP as a program choice, and volunteer civil-rights training records.

What it does not do, so you are not surprised: PantryPOS has no CSFP certification workflow. It does not check age 60+ or the CSFP income limit (its eligibility self-declaration is built for TEFAP), it does not track CSFP caseload or a CSFP waiting list, it does not produce the FNS-191 or FNS-153, and USDA Foods received for CSFP have no separate receiving source of their own. Keep certification and caseload where your State agency asks you to.

PantryPOS is $39 a month for the first location after a 30-day free trial, with no card to start.

Sources (checked October 10, 2026)

• 7 CFR Part 247, Commodity Supplemental Food Program (eCFR): 247.1, 247.2, 247.3, 247.8, 247.9, 247.10, 247.11, 247.16, 247.28, 247.29.
• USDA FNA, CSFP fact sheet (page updated September 11, 2026) and CSFP State/Local Agency page.
• USDA FNA, CSFP income guidelines.
• Federal Register, Food Distribution Programs: Improving Access and Parity, final rule, 89 FR 87228 (October 31, 2024).
• Federal Register, CSFP: Implementation of the Agricultural Act of 2014, final rule, 79 FR 38748 (July 9, 2014).
• 7 CFR Part 251, TEFAP (eCFR): 251.5.

This guide summarizes federal regulations and USDA pages as published on October 10, 2026. It is not legal advice. Your State agency, its State Plan and your agreement with it set the rules you actually operate under; confirm with them.