Blue Lake Rancheria seeks to expand its nutrition programs and strengthen our local food systems through local food purchasing from socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and distribution of Fresh Food Boxes to underserved communities. The existing Elders Nutrition Program provides free meals to 85 Tribal Elders and Native community members living in the region. This Local Food Purchasing project will expand upon the existing Elders Nutrition program to reach more community members in need of food and not being served by other food programs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of 14 members to serve on the Plant Variety Protection Board. The newly appointed members will serve two-year terms. Terms run from September 24, 2022, to September 24, 2024. 

Newly appointed members are:

Farmer Representation

• Brent Robertson, Elsie, Nebraska

Private or Industry Representation

The Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) proposes a two-year project to purchase and distribute $2,500,000 worth of Kansas grown and processed foods to underserved communities and families across Kansas. Kansans in rural and urban communities are impacted by increasing inflation of food prices and limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. There are over 350,000 Kansans who are food insecure according to data published in the Map the Meal Gap project. This equates to 12.1% of the Kansas population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is updating the USDA Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Plus+ audit standard and checklist. This update will allow AMS’s GAP audit services to remain applicable and relevant to its specialty crops industry customers. The updates will become effective Sept. 1, 2022.

Using the LFPA funds, the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services will award sub-grants to agencies with the capacity to procure foods from local sources, focusing on socially disadvantaged farmers/vendors. The sub-grantees will collaborate with food distribution agencies to distribute these products to food insecure individuals, focusing on serving socially disadvantaged communities.