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 Wyoming LFPA Plus project will work directly with local producers, leverage food hubs, and source from ranchers and local meat processors within a 400-mile range. This two (2) year program provides a unique opportunity to distribute locally sourced food, while economically benefiting about 25 farmers/producers and food hubs. While agriculture is one of the top three (3) industries in Wyoming, one (1) of the objectives of this funding is to scale up small to medium local food production to meet our food needs.
The concept will provide small/medium capacity and socially disadvantaged local producers with a market that offers flexibility and builds relationships with statewide food distribution systems. This will support a parallel and stronger food distribution system by including the local food system at the community level, resulting in new connections between the local food producers and food distribution organizations.
The goal is to keep food local which decreases the need for additional warehouse or transportation to distribute nutritious food to pantries and soup kitchens who support the 10% of Wyomingites facing food insecurity in all 23 counties.
With this award, Wyoming will be able to support, elevate, and highlight local and regional producers, and bring nutritious foods to underserved communities in Wyoming.