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USDA to invest $1 billion to support emergency food assistance and more

The USDA has announced it will invest up to $1 billion in the Emergency Food Assistance Program to help states, food banks, and local organizations better serve communities.

The department will work with state, Tribal, and local entities to purchase food from local producers and invest in infrastructure that enables partner organizations to reach underserved communities.

USDA says the food system must be fair, competitive, distributed, and resilient and must also ensure producers receive a fair share of the food dollar while advancing equity and contributing to climate goals.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says now is the time to apply lessons learned from food assistance early in the pandemic and improve how USDA purchases food and supports on-the-ground organizations with the Emergency Food Assistance Program. He says there will be an emphasis on reaching rural, remote, and underserved communities; local and regional food systems; and socially disadvantaged farmers.

The USDA says $500 million will support emergency food assistance, up to $400 million will support local, regional, and socially disadvantaged farmers, and up to $100 million will fund infrastructure grants.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service will purchase $500 million in nutritious, domestically produced food for state food bank networks through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. AMS will establish cooperative agreements with state and Tribal governments or other local entities to purchases food for the food bank network from local and regional producers and socially disadvantaged producers. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service will administer a new grant program aimed at helping food assistance organizations meet program requirements, strengthen infrastructure, and expand reach to rural, remote, and low-income communities.

The effort is funded with $500 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and $500 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The investment represents the first part of USDA’s new Build Back Better initiative.

USDA says it will make additional investments in the coming months and will continue to make announcements through the initiative throughout 2021.