The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that U.S. honey first handlers and importers have approved continuing the National Honey Board research and promotion program.

In the referendum, 73.8% of first handlers and importers voting, who represented 85.5% of the volume of honey or honey products voting in the referendum, were in favor of continuing the program. Over 50% of the first handlers and importers voting and over 50% of the volume voting in the referendum were required for the program to continue.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture intends to use Local Food Purchase Assistance Program Cooperative Agreement funds to establish a program that allows communities to determine for themselves how local food can be procured and distributed to underserved individuals. While this funding is a two-year economic investment, it provides a unique opportunity to build relationships and capacity among stakeholders and the agency.

The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians is a Federally Recognized Tribe located on the Tuolumne Rancheria in Tuolumne, California. The Tribe is a small Federally Recognized Tribe with 485 members in which 200 reside on the Rancheria and the remaining live in surrounding communities and adjacent counties. With this funding the surrounding counties of Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mariposa, Amador, and Stanislaus counties will serve all Tribal Members, their families, and lineal descendants.

The U.S.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (FDACS) is proposing to administer $14,880,000 through a non-competitive cooperative agreement for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). The purpose of the award is to maintain and improve Florida’s food and agricultural supply chain resiliency.