The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) aims to strengthen local and regional food systems using LFPA program funds. They will support local and socially disadvantaged farmers by expanding economic opportunities and establishing partnerships with farmers, producers, and food distribution networks. The goal is to ensure fresh and nutritious food reaches rural, remote, and underserved communities. 

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (FDACS) is proposing to administer $21,674,292 through a non-competitive cooperative agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program Plus (LFPA Plus). These funds will be utilized to augment FDACS’s current LFPA project. 

The project purpose is to facilitate and increase direct-to-market sales of food products grown by Delaware farmers, to Delaware community members. The project will 1) establish a farmer cooperative focused on marketing, promotion, and to maximize capacity of small, disadvantaged farmers; 2) identify existing community outlets providing food access specifically to under-resourced populations with demonstrated food insecurities; and 3) develop a model enabling small farmers and community outlets (ultimately retailers and other market institutions) to establish procurement relationships.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) will administer the LFPA Plus program funds through a continuation of (1) a partnership with the only statewide food bank, CT Foodshare (2) through awards made from a competitive grants process. Awardees are Brass City Harvest, City of Bridgeport, Click Inc., Partners for a Sustainable Healthy Community, New London Community Meal Center, Forge City Works, and Vertical Church.

The Colorado Dept. of Human Services (CDHS) in collaboration with the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture (CDA), shall procure Colorado food products, focused on socially disadvantaged producers, packing, transportation and distribution to Coloradans in need of nutritional support due to financial hardship. A decentralized approach will be used, by administering the LFPA Plus program funds through multiple subawards.

The goal of the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program is to establish cooperative agreements with state governments and Tribal governments for the purpose of purchasing food, supporting local producers, and socially disadvantaged farmers. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will develop a partnership with multiple agencies to meet this goal.

Through the Local Food Purchase Agreement, the Arkansas Department of Human Service, Division of Child Care and Early Childcare Education Commodity Distribution Unit will partner with food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and other distributors within the local food distribution and network to order domestic food from local and regional producers. The partnership will target socially disadvantaged farmers/producers, with the intent to distribute to underserved communities in Arkansas.

The ‘’Purchase Local Arizona” LFPA/LFPA Plus program in Arizona is implemented by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (ADES), working in collaboration with the Arizona Food Bank Network (AzFBN) and Pinnacle Prevention.

The Alaska Local Food Purchase Program (ALFPP) will provide more grant funding for purchase of locally grown and produced foods from farmers in Alaska. With new funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation, this project will not only be extended for another full year from the original American Rescue Plan Act funds, but it will allow for the purchase of so much more food from locally sourced farmers to feed the underserved community members that truly need our help.