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. By strategically implementing the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), the Kansas Department of Agriculture is well suited to develop a food system that connects local food producers to hungry consumers through the state’s existing distribution network of food banks. There are three objectives that KDA intends to accomplish by implementing the LFPA. 1- Partner with agriculture stakeholder groups to identify local, regional, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who have interest in and capacity to provide domestic local foods and establish a tiered purchasing standard that gives preference to socially disadvantaged farmers to expand their businesses. 2- Ensure that food purchased by the grant is widely distributed across Kansas in rural and urban counties impacted by food insecurity. 3- Ensure that food purchased by the grant is widely distributed across Kansas in rural and urban counties impacted by food insecurity. Partnering with the three food banks will provide statewide coverage and distribution of the local food. The Kansas Local Food for Purchase program will develop a network of producers and help bring local foods to food insecure Kansans.
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