The Arkansas Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (ARLFS), funded through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), will establish cooperative agreements between Arkansas schools, local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers, and small businesses to provide local food to schools. Arkansas schools are defined by 7 CFR § 210.2 and currently served by the Commodities Distribution Unit’s National School Lunch Program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to purchase Fresh Apples for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs.

The Yakama Nation Tribal Government has been tasked with the duty to provide and strengthen the Yakama people through upholding their sovereign Treaty rights, maintaining the Yakama culture, and representing future generations. The recent Covid-19 pandemic showed how fragile the economy can be and exposed gaps in the logistical infrastructure that supports it. The global economy is tied together in so many ways and access to food is a part of that.

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) proposes an eighteen-month project to purchase and distribute $2,193,501 of Iowa produced and made foods to K-12 Schools in Iowa. Students across Iowa in rural and urban settings continue to be impacted by lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, school food nutrition labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is re-opening the nomination period for individuals to serve on the USDA Grain Inspection Advisory Committee. The advisory committee meets no less than once annually to advise AMS on programs and services it delivers under the U.S. Grain Standards Act. Meetings are held virtually or in a hybrid style with participants having a choice to attend in person or virtually.

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has established the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). LFPA is part of the “Build Back Better” initiative, authorized by the American Rescue Plan. LFPA’s purpose is to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency to support local, regional, and socially disadvantaged farmers and producers through the purchase of locally grown fresh foods, food products, and beverages.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is reminding buyers and sellers of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables subject to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) of the actions that must be taken for a seller to preserve their PACA trust rights in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or electronic invoicing (collectively, “EDI”) systems.

Buyers of commodities subject to the PACA must provide a means for sellers to preserve their PACA trust rights for transactions made in EDI systems.

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) will partner with the three Feeding America affiliated food banks that together service all 82 counties in the state of Mississippi. MDAC will subcontract with each of the Food Banks to procure locally produced food, including foods purchased from socially disadvantaged farmers, and distribute the food to identified underserved communities through their networks of existing and new agency partners created as a result of the project.

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