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.

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.

[7] The Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation was continued as an agency under the secretary of agriculture by acts of June 28, 1937 (50 Stat.

[clarification needed] During World War II, the federal purchase and distribution of food surpluses continued, including overseas supplies made under the Lend-Lease Act of 11 March 1941.

[8] A 1947 legal case relating to the contracted supply of dried eggs to the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation for aid to Russia in 1942 (Priebe & Sons, Inc. v. United States) held that a provision in the contract for "liquidated damages" to be paid for late inspection and certification of the product constituted an unenforceable penalty clause.

In the 1960s, counties began to cease distributing the surpluses direct to low income individuals, instead providing an early form of food stamp.