LAMA Signs Letter to Support the EAT Local Foods Act
This week, LAMA has joined with our friends at the Arizona Food Systems Network (AzFSN) and signed their letter in support of the EAT Local Foods Act.
What is the EAT Local Foods Act?
The Enhance Access To (EAT) Local Foods Act is a piece of legislation that was introduced to the Senate in mid-March. The program provides $900 million to be invested in local food systems nation wide, and to help facilitate the purchase of food grown locally. “Local foods” are food grown within 400 miles of the point of purchase. This money helps entities like school obtain local foods. It is also be invested in local food systems, helping products get from farm to table.
The USDA has already made funding available for local food purchasing in all 50 states, through the Local Food Purchase Act. Here in Arizona, the program is managed by our partners at Pinnacle Prevention and the Arizona Food Bank Network. These groups work to make sure that culturally important food are available through our food assistance programs, and have brought fresh local food to over 100 nonprofit and community based organizations. To date, Arizona has spent about $2.4 million from the program and has built relationships with more than 200 farmers and producers. The existing funds have had an outsized impact on food-insecure areas and communities, helping to address the systemic inaccessibility within food systems across the country
The Expanding Access To (EAT) Local Foods Act aims to make this funding program permanent. The bill would direct USDA to enter into cooperative agreements with States, Tribes, and territories to purchase food from local, regional, and underserved producers to distribute to community organizations. The program design would allow flexibility for units of government to directly purchase these foods or sub-award the funding to partners in the region. Food purchases must be local and at least 51 percent of the total value of products purchased shall be from small, beginning, or underserved producers. Moreover, food distribution will remain intended for food insecure communities.
Support Letter
AzFSN put out a call, inviting organizations from around the state to join them in vocally supporting this act. The following letter is written to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee (D-MI), ranking committee member Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Rep. Glenn Thompson, Chair of the House Agriculture Committee (R-PA), and ranking committee member Rep. David Scott (D-GA).
Dear Chairwoman Stabenow, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Boozman, and Ranking Member Scott:
We are writing today to share how impactful the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) is for our state and to highlight the importance of including authorization and additional funding in the next Farm Bill.
USDA launched LFPA in 2021 to promote food and agricultural supply chain resiliency by allowing states to purchase fresh food from local, regional, and underserved producers to distribute to families in need. Funds from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) are being used to fund the Arizona Food Bank Network’s Friends of the Farm Program, and Pinnacle Prevention’s Purchase Local Arizona Program. The Friends of the Farm program purchases food from local farmers and distributes it through 5 regional food bank networks across the state. The Purchase Local Arizona program purchases food from local farms and distributes it to non-food bank sites including senior housing sites, family resource centers, and community hubs. In the first year of the program in Arizona, $2.4 million in food was purchased from over 220 farmers and ranchers, and distributed to 110 organizations who delivered food to underserved locations across all 15 Arizona counties. Farmers have been able to use consistent contracts to invest in new equipment, scale operations, and identify new market opportunities.
Without additional authorization and funding, this critical program is currently scheduled to end in summer of 2025. The Expanding Access To (EAT) Local Foods Act, recently introduced in the Senate, would provide a permanent funding source for programs that have spurred business growth, allowed farmers to scale, and provided quality, culturally appropriate food to those facing hunger. It would also provide essential technical assistance, like food safety training, and personnel funding to make the implementation process as smooth as possible.
Our community members deserve access to fresh, local food. We urge you to include the provisions outlined in the EAT Local Foods Act into the next Farm Bill.
Join us!
If you are part of an organization that would like to join us in signing onto this letter, such as a congregation, anti-hunger ministry, or committee, click the button below and fill out the Google from!
