As part of The Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Biden administration will spend $1 billion to promote more sourcing from local, small-scale, and socially disadvantaged producers, reports Politico Pro.
This comes after the USDA’s food box program ended last week. In total, the program served up more than 170 million boxes of produce, as well as meat and dairy products, since it launched last summer.
This new initiative will break the funding into three parts: $500 million for “nutritious, domestically produced food” which includes set-asides for more socially disadvantaged businesses and a new fresh produce option; up to $400 million for cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments and others to promote local food purchases; and up to $100 million for infrastructure grants with a special focus on rural, remote, and low-income communities.
“This is part of a much, much larger effort to transform this food system in the country,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview. He noted the goal of the program was both to improve nutrition with more fresh produce and also help tackle racial inequities by sourcing from a wider range of businesses and farmers.
“We're going to look at creating a more flexible program that is capable of doing business not just with large distributors, but also with small businesses, with women-owned businesses, with minority-owned businesses, and with veteran-owned businesses,” Vilsack said. Full Story (Subscription required)
Related: USDA Dedicates Additional Funds for Food Producers; Organic Sales Reach $61.9 Billion.