The USDA has announced that it has signed its first cooperative agreement under the new Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Colorado is the first state to enter into a cooperative agreement under the program, according to a news release.
“The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program demonstrates USDA’s commitment to working with state and tribal governments to strengthen local partnerships, address food insecurity, and expand market opportunities for local agricultural products,” USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the release.
“USDA is excited to partner with Colorado on this first cooperative agreement to better support historically underserved producers and ensure that underserved communities have increased access to locally sourced, healthy, and nutritious food.”
“We are in a unique position to connect new and historically underrepresented communities to healthy, local food,” CDHS Executive Director Michelle Barnes, said in the release. “CDHS is passionate about alleviating hunger across the state, and we are proud to partner with the USDA on this important effort to bolster food access. We hope this program touches those in need of food, as well as farmers, ranchers and food producers, in as many regions of Colorado as possible.”
Under LFPA, the state will purchase local foods using a competitive procurement process for Colorado food producers, for-profit organizations, and nonprofit organizations such as food banks and food pantries, the release said.
The LFPA program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency, according to the release.
Through this program, USDA will award up to $400 million through non-competitive cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional, and underserved farmers and ranchers through the purchase of food produced within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.
Eligible state and tribal governments can apply to participate in the program now through May 6, 2022, at www.grants.gov.
More information about the program is available AMS’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program webpage.
