Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation

Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation

Marketing surplus commodities (1939)
Agency overview
Formed	Charter granted by State of Delaware, October 4, 1933 (1933-10-04)[1]
Dissolved	February 23, 1942
Superseding agency	Agricultural Marketing Administration
Parent department	United States Department of Agriculture

The Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation was one of the so-called alphabet agencies set up in the United States during the 1930s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Created in 1933 as the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation, its name was changed by charter amendment on November 18, 1935. In 1937 its administration was placed within the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1940 it was combined with other USDA initiatives to form the Surplus Marketing Administration. It was abolished February 23, 1942, with the creation of the Agricultural Marketing Administration.

The purpose of the agency was to divert agricultural commodities from the open market, where prices were depressed by surplus farm products, to destitute families.^[1]

As of 2012, the federal purchase and distribution of surplus food still continues, now under the auspices of the Emergency Food Assistance Program.