Berries and Big USDA Investments
USDA announces new and expanded initiatives; plus, strawberries are here
STRAWBERRIES!
I’ve seldom had competing news items in one day in the 14 months of Local Food Forum.
The bigger long-term news is the live-streamed announcement by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack of USDA’s Food Systems Transformation Framework, which includes significant new investments in the pillars of production, processing, distribution/aggregation, and market development to build a more resilient, sustainable and equitable food system.
But the event coincided with one of the big milestones in our local growing season: Strawberries have arrived! And with no insult intended to Secretary Vilsack, the gorgeous, juicy, red-throughout, delicious Mick Klug Farm strawberry above (purchased at this morning’s Green City Market) makes for a better featured photo.
I’ll have more on the strawberries and the rest of today’s market haul, but first, the news from our nation’s capital.
USDA Grows Food Systems Transformation Effort
Building upon a series of programs and initiatives rolled out over nearly a year and a half, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (June 1) announced a series of new and expanded funding in areas critical to building a more climate-friendly, resilient, sustainable and fair food system.
“I believe the basic elements are production, processing, distribution/aggregation and market development,” Vilsack said at an event held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. “Transforming the food system needs to be one that, through all four elements, sustainably grows and raises commodities and livestock with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, while also raising farm and rural incomes. One that builds greater resilience across the entire food supply chain, provides access to nutritious food for all, and guarantees equity of opportunity for all.”
If these words sound gratifying familiar, it is because it is a statement that encompasses the goals voiced for many years by advocates of a better-for-people, better-for-the-planet food system. The devil is always in the details when it comes to implementation and fulfillment of government policy promises. But I have been following this process, first for 30 years as a political journalist in D.C. and for the last decade as one of those full-time advocates, and the policies projected by the USDA leadership have never been more in line with our goals.
Moreover, Vilsack positioned the USDA initiative as the Biden administration’s marker for the upcoming debates on the five-year Farm Bill that is due to be enacted next year.
While billions of dollars are being invested in this food system transformation, it's going to require consistent and substantial funding in the future to ensure that the investments of today are built to last well into the future. As Congress begins work on the next Farm Bill, it's going to need to focus attention on continuing this effort. We believe the Farm Bill presents a critical opportunity to advance a new vision of our transformed food system we're discussing today.
I’ll have more details and quotes in tomorrow’s Local Food Forum, but here are the top-line numbers and programs Vilsack announced this morning.
• USDA is creating a $300 million program to expand organic agriculture by providing mentoring programs for farmers seeking to transition to organic and providing financial resources to help farmers meet conservation requirements and USDA organic standards during their transitional period.
• USDA will provide $600 million in grants, low-interest loans and loan guarantees to build out infrastructure in a variety of non-meat and poultry food sectors in order to expand processing, distribution, storage and aggregation capacity in the system.
• The government over the next year will provide $600 million to boost local and regional farm economies through purchases by USDA’s Temporary Food Assistance Program.
• Following up on a $1 billion allocation for farmer implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture practices, USDA on June 10 will open applications for smaller grants as part of this program.
• To address serious supply chain problems that have developed since the start of the pandemic, USDA will provide an additional $23 million to assist small and medium-sized meat processing plants to expand access to local livestock producers, following on a previous $38 million investment.
• USDA also is allocating $275 million for a partnership with lenders for grants of up to $15 million to expand meat processing capacity.
• USDA will provide $100 million to food bank and pantry partners to improve storage and refrigeration capacity. Most food assistance programs were unable to accept fresh food donations during the pandemic because of a lack of such capacity.
• The department will continue its investment of $150 million in technical services to help people in constituencies that are historically under-represented to avail themselves of the full array of USDA loan and conservation programs.
• USDA will also provide $40 million to land-grant universities, community colleges and minority-serving organizations to support workforce development, beginning with the meat and poultry industry.
• USDA is committing $155 million in new funding for its Healthy Food Financing Initiative to help more people in urban and rural communities that lack sufficient access to healthy food.
• The department is adding $75 million to its efforts to promote urban agriculture.
• An additional $60 million will be provided to help school systems purchase more healthy local and regional food under the Farm to School program. The department is also creating a new $100 million Healthy Food Incentive Fund to stimulate partnerships between food industry, schools, local chefs and nutritionists to deliver healthier school food to students.
• The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program will receive $50 million in additional funding.
• The department’s Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program will receive an additional $40 million for its efforts to increase the usage of federal food assistance benefits for purchase of vegetables and fruit and to support health-focused Produce Prescription programs across the nation that are mostly run by non-profit organizations.
• USDA is dedicating $400 million in funds from the pandemic-induced American Rescue Plan to create a network of food business centers that, according to Vilsack, will be “staffed with technical experts who are knowledgable about all of the USDA programs to support local and regional food systems and the financing tools necessary and designed to assist in building that sustainable local and regional food system, with a special emphasis on those who have been historically underserved in our country.”
I’ll provide a little more detail about what was said in tomorrow’s Local Food Forum.
Building A Better Food System Starts With You
While having USDA more on our side than on our back is encouraging, we all have the power to contribute to a better food system by buying healthy, sustainable, delicious products from our local farmers. Yes, food is a mad passion for me, but the reason I spend so much time visiting farmers markets and writing about it is that I believe profoundly that it’s important to our future and that of generations to come.
So here’s some more about my Green City Market visit this morning.
The folks at Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan) told me Saturday that they had their fingers crossed that strawberries would arrive today. So when I got to the market, I made a beeline, and recognize that glorious bright red from several yards away.
Ellis Family Farms, which is just across the St. Joseph River from Klug in Benton Harbor, Michigan, also busted out their first strawberries of the year.
Star Farm Chicago, an urban farm in the city’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, had lots of greens today (I bought some kale).
Nichols Farms and Orchard had spring onions in abundance, including the red variety (my favorite).
I was excited to learn that Mint Creek Farm, a regional pioneer in sustainable livestock farming, is now selling dairy products. I’ll have a report on that yogurt real soon. I have a longtime relationship with Mint Creek, as they were in the first cohort of the Good Food Accelerator run by FamilyFarmed, my former employer.
Finally, today’s market haul. Clockwise from lower left, Mick Klug Farm strawberries; two tofu salads from Phoenix Bean Tofu (Chicago); two dozen eggs and a cucumber from Jacobson Family Farms (Antioch, Illinois); kale from Star Farm Chicago; red spring onions from Nichols; Mint Creek (Cabery, Illinois) yogurt and ground pork (it was on sale so I bought two); Mick Klug asparagus; and pretzel bagels from Flat & Point (Chicago).
Strawberries win every time!