The Nevada Department of Agriculture intends to utilize the funds provided through the LFPA grant to purchase foods from farmers and producers in Nevada and qualifying areas in California and surrounding states, as needed. In 2021, the Nevada legislature approved the creation of a state-supported food distribution program, the Home Feeds Nevada program, which will begin operation in 2022. The Home Feeds Nevada program will purchase local food from farmers and producers, using a tiered pricing system, and distribute the food through the state’s food bank network. The tiered system will pay small and disadvantaged producers a higher price due to higher operating costs. The current Home Feeds Nevada program is limited to purchasing food from Nevada farmers and producers and distributing food to the state’s two food banks.
NDA will utilize LFPA funds to expand the Home Feeds Nevada program by purchasing food within Nevada and from neighboring states and distributing the food to community partners both within the food bank network and without. NDA will release an RFP for competitive procurement of food and establish vendor agreements with farmers and producers using the tiered pricing system described above.
NDA expects to purchase $3,856,467 of food from 15 producers and distribute that food to 10 community organizations in underserved communities for further distribution to households in need.