The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (FDACS) is proposing to administer $21,674,292 through a non-competitive cooperative agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program Plus (LFPA Plus). These funds will be utilized to augment FDACS’s current LFPA project.
The purpose of the award is to continue building and improving Florida’s food and agricultural supply chain resiliency. In Florida, the LFPA and LFPA Plus projects foster in-state, long-term relationships that build sustainable market opportunities. The primary beneficiaries include Florida’s producers, with an emphasis on supporting socially disadvantaged producers, and populations that are not part of the normal food distribution network. Funding will be used primarily for the purchase of Florida produce, targeting purchases from socially disadvantaged producers, for distribution to unserved and underserved populations in need of nutrition assistance.
The goal of this project is to tailor food distributions to overcome unique local challenges and strive to better serve feeding programs, including food banks and other organizations that target underserved communities, by incorporating more produce into food distributions. An example of creating sustainable market opportunities and better serving Florida’s feeding programs is encouraging the creation of new markets for US number 2 grade commodities. These products are often sold at a lower cost than number 1 grade commodities but still have all the benefits of Florida’s fresh, nutritious produce.
The State will administer the LFPA Plus program funds through a non-competitive, direct offer program allowing food distribution agencies currently contracted with FDACS’s LFPA program to receive a portion of Florida’s allocated LFPA Plus funds. Program staff will continue to engage with subrecipients to foster sustainable new markets for purchasing state products, especially from socially disadvantaged producers, for distribution to underserved populations.