$26 billion for food, ag in COVID-19 relief package: A mixed holiday blessing

More funding for food production and distribution are among the priorities in the third COVID-19 relief package, agreed upon by U.S. Congressional leaders and the White House less than a week before Christmas.

Still, some leaders criticize the final bill, saying that some sectors and problems weren’t addressed properly, including the foodservice industry, liability protection, and nutrition assistance for women, infants and children.

The House Agriculture Committee was given $26 billion out of the overall $908 billion stimulus package to spend on COVID-19 relief for nutrition assistance and agriculture and rural programs, according to committee chairman Collin C. Peterson’s Dec. 20 overview. 

Half of that funding, $13 billion, was provided to the House Agriculture and the House Education & Labor committees to provide nutrition assistance. The other $13 billion went to agricultural assistance and programs.

“We’ve got a good bill. It’s not perfect, but it does provided extended relief for a lot of folks,” said Tom Stenzel, CEO of United Fresh Produce Association, which has been lobbying in Washington, D.C., for the industry to get relief in many ways since March.

The extension of what used to be called the Farmers to Food Box Program, as well as the Paycheck Protection Program, which applies to all industries, will have a big impact, he said. “It really is a key lifeline for companies,” Stenzel said about the paycheck program. 

Thousands of small produce companies across the supply chain benefitted from the program’s forgivable loans for payroll or rent to stay in business and keep employees on staff, he said.

“For some businesses, it’s already too late,” Richard Owen, Produce Marketing Association’s legislative and regulatory affairs team lead, said in a statement. “But we are now focused on strengthening all sectors of the industry for a recovery period in 2021. This funding serves as an important bridge, and we are grateful to Congress for recognizing the need.”

For the fresh produce industry, the legislation includes an estimated:

• $225 million for supplemental payments to eligible specialty crop producers;
• $1.5 billion for commodity and food purchases (Farmers to Families Food Box program);
• $100 million for specialty crop block grants to support seasonal growers; 
• $100 million for the local agriculture market program to help producers, farmers markets and food businesses adapt to supply chain issues; 
• $75 million for the Farming Opportunities Training Outreach program to assist minority, tribal, veteran and beginning farmers;
• $28 million for state block grants to support farmer and rancher mental health initiatives; and
• $1.5 billion for food purchases for food banks and food donation programs.

There’s help for people with less access to food and their produce suppliers, including:

• $75 million for SNAP participant fruit and vegetable incentives; 
• Funding for more online SNAP retailers and state SNAP expenses; and
•  Emergency funding for meal programs in schools and daycares impacted by COVID-19.

“Unfortunately, tense negotiations led to several important priorities being left out of this agreement,” according to a United Fresh Produce Association member newsletter. “United Fresh will continue to lobby strongly for these provisions in the next Congress and with the Biden administration.”

Besides higher and more accessible paycheck protection loans, there’s no targeted relief for restaurants, which was proposed in the Restaurants Act, Stenzel said.

Yet, the National Restaurant Association offered a positive take on receiving the requested short-term help.

“The action taken by Congress today will keep tens of thousands of restaurants from closing in the coming months,” Tom Bené, president and CEO of the restaurant organization, said in a statement. “However, the long-term economic challenges facing independent, franchise and chain restaurants will not end with the new year, and we will continue to press federal and state leaders for the support that will put us on the road to recovery.”  

There are no liability protection provisions, but Congress agreed to tackle liability in a separate bill that will include funding for state and local governments, along with limited liability protections for businesses, according to United Fresh.

“Independent supermarkets have led the way in keeping workers and customers safe and have remained open when their communities need them most,” National Grocers Association president and CEO Greg Ferrara said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for Congress to leave open the floodgates for frivolous litigation to be levied against independent community businesses simply for staying open during the crisis.”

Lastly, the final package doesn’t have a state option to temporarily include a cash-value benefit increase to $35 a month in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children. 

The National WIC Association recognized the 15% SNAP benefit increase for the next six months and the meaningful step of creating a U.S. Department of Agriculture task force for online purchasing in the WIC program, the Rev. Douglas Greenaway, president and CEO of the WIC association, said in a statement.

“As SNAP households gained access to online purchasing options in the early months of the pandemic, WIC families were left with an unequal shopping experience. Retailers have raced to implement makeshift measures that keep WIC shoppers safe, but USDA took limited steps to engage stakeholders in advancing alternatives to the in-person cashier transaction,” Greenaway said.

The legislation does provide new opportunities for independent grocers to participate in nutrition incentive projects and the SNAP online program, according to the National Grocers Association.

The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive program, which seeks to increase fruit and vegetable purchasing by SNAP consumers, got a $75 million bolster from the bill.

But there is no increase in WIC benefits for fruits and vegetables, Greenaway said.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried criticized the package’s lacking aid for small farmers, small businesses and gig economy workers, but she said there’s a lot of good in there too.

“With our growers facing more than half a billion dollars in losses from the pandemic, these payments will help Florida’s agriculture industry continue producing the nation’s food – especially during the winter when our seasonal growers feed 150 million Americans,” Fried said in a statement.

The legislative compromise is a package that doesn’t suit everyone’s needs, but it’s definitely something to be thankful for in the new year, Stenzel said.

“We can all look forward with a little more confidence,” Stenzel said.