The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to purchase Asparagus (Canned and Frozen) for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs. Purchases will be made under the authority of Section 32 of the Act of Aug. 24, 1935, with the purpose to encourage the continued domestic consumption of these products by diverting them from the normal channels of trade and commerce.

Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) and Food Bank of Wyoming’s (FBW) LFPA Plus project is to support local and regional producers, targeting purchases from rural and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers while distributing nutritious food to rural and underserved communities in Wyoming.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will partner with the Marbleseed, the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) and the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative (WFHC) to engage and convene producers, distributors, community organizations, food security partners and tribal governments to establish local food system connections and a pipeline in which socially disadvantaged producers can secure markets and provide local food to underserved communities.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program and LFPA Plus, will subgrant funds to Facing Hunger Food Bank and Mountaineer Food Bank. The food banks will expand current food procurement from socially disadvantaged producers and food distribution with the addition of LFPA Plus funds. Additional socially disadvantaged producers will be identified, increasing the purchasing ability for local foods. LFPA Plus funds will be predominately utilized for food procurement.

The purpose of the Washington State Local Food Purchase Assistance Pilot Program is to strengthen local food supply chains by facilitating and funding the purchase of Washington-grown and processed food for distribution to people in rural and/or underserved communities. Through this pilot, funding will be spent on purchasing food directly from local and regional farmers and producers, with 63% of the resources prioritized for procurement from socially disadvantaged producers.

In Washington, D.C. food insecurity disproportionately affects Black and Latinx households with low-income. Through the Local Food Purchasing Agreement, the District of Columbia seeks to expand partnerships between socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and community-based organizations that provide free, direct food distribution to underserved residents facing food insecurity in Wards 7 and 8.

Using the LFPA funds, the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services will continue to work with agencies that have the capacity to procure foods from local sources, focusing on socially disadvantaged farmers/vendors. VDACS will award subgrants with the LFPA plus funding. The foods will be distributed to food insecure individuals, focusing on serving socially disadvantaged communities.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) will maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency by partnering with organizations to purchase and distribute local food to underserved communities. VAAFM has active projects with five nonprofit partners—Abenaki Helping Abenaki, the Center for an Agricultural Economy, Capstone Community Action, the Vermont Foodbank, and the Intervale Center. We additionally have selected nine organizations through a competitive grant process that have started projects in March 2023.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) proposes to use Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and LFPA Plus funds to establish a program that enables the purchase of local food products from disadvantaged farmers across the state and distribution of those products to underserved communities. This program will support Utah organizations to foster relationships with local producers and build capacity for sustaining purchases and distribution.