IARN — President Donald Trump has declared up to an additional $1 billion for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
The president made the announcement alongside US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue this week. The additional funding allows the program to continue offering critical support to farmers, distributors, and American families in need – as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Cottrell with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service says under the program, USDA purchases food that would otherwise have gone to the service industry.
“Things where they just don’t have the people coming out anymore because of the pandemic,” Cottrell said. “These distributors that had this surplus food, they needed an outlet and people needed food around the country. So, we contracted with them to put that food in a food box and ship it to the people that need it the most.”
Since its inception, the Farmers to Families Food Box Program has provided over 70 million boxes to hungry Americans across the country. Christopher Purdy is USDA’s associate deputy director of commodity procurement. He says when the food box program was created, it required USDA to expand beyond its vendor base.
“We very much value our existing vendors,” Purdy said. “They get us through thick and thin throughout the year, but we needed to purchase what’s currently available in the local marketplace. We couldn’t purchase in full truckload quantities. At the food banks and some of the non-profit organizations we’re trying to hit, storage and distribution is limited.”
Secretary Perdue stated that the additional $1 billion in funding will continue to save countless jobs, support the nation’s farmers, and move food to where it’s needed most.
The first two rounds of deliveries through the food box program began on May 15th and will run to August 31st. USDA says the third round will put more emphasis on food insecurity. More information on the Farmers to Families Food Box Program can be found on USDA’s website.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
