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Proposed GusNIP Expansion Act would support local food sales

New bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House would expand federal dollars to support state nutrition programs and local food purchases.

Co-sponsor Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, tells Brownfield the bill would expand the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program which provides funding for projects that incentivize fruit and vegetable purchases.  “By reducing the match requirements from 50 percent down to 20 percent, which would mean that local dollars could go a lot further in funding these programs and also make some adjustments to make it more efficient,” he explains.

He says the bill would supercharge programs that match dollar-for-dollar produce purchases like Michigan’s Double Up Food Bucks program. “So that there’s more money available to support our local growers who come to the farm market to sell their produce and give them a reliable market for that produce and incentivizes the purchase of it by folks who receive SNAP,” he says.

Republican Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas is also a co-sponsor of the GusNIP Expansion Act.

The legislation is endorsed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Heart Association, the Fair Food Network, the Farmers Market Coalition, the International Fresh Produce Association, the National Grocers Association, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and more.

AUDIO: Congressman Dan Kildee, Michigan