Nutrition & Food Access


USDA Food Box Program Falls Short of Supporting Small Farms

June 18, 2020

In late April, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the highly anticipated Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), a two pronged plan the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would implement to distribute $23.5 billion in Congressionally provided aid to farmers impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. CFAP consists of two distinct programs: $16 billion in direct […]

Inaugural Urban Agriculture and Community Compost Funding Opportunities Announced

May 28, 2020

Americans’ interest in knowing more about where, how, and by whom their food is produced has been growing for many years and the coronavirus pandemic has shown new light on the serious shortcomings in our highly concentrated food production system. Along with the rise of the local food movement there has also been a building […]

Farmers Feeding Families Act Would Prioritize Local Relief Efforts

May 20, 2020

With the official unemployment rate approaching 15 percent, the number of food insecure families is growing. This can be seen in a dramatic increase in applications for SNAP benefits and in the long lines at food banks and emergency feeding sites across the country. This difficult situation is made even worse because as the demand […]

National Guide to Finding Local Food

April 29, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our country’s food system from farm to fork. Social distancing and other response strategies have upended agricultural markets throughout the country, including local and regional markets; and transformed the way individuals and families shop for, purchase and consume food. That transformation has brought with it a big uptick of interest […]

$3 Billion in Coronavirus Response Funds Available to Food Hubs and Distributors to Provide Fresh Food Boxes to Those in Need

April 22, 2020

Editor’s Note: The RFP has now been published and can be accessed below. We will continue to update this post as more information and resources become available. Last updated 4/27 at 5:02pm Late on a Friday night (4/17), Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the highly anticipated plan for how the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]

Inaugural Regional Food Systems Partnership Program Funding Opportunity Announced

March 31, 2020

Local and regional food economy entrepreneurs and organizations received some long-awaited news earlier in March – the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) finally released the Request for Applications (RFA) for the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) Program. RFSP is a new program that supports foodshed-level approaches to developing regional food economies. […]

$27 million in Grant Funding Available for Farmers Markets and Local Food Projects

March 24, 2020

On March 9, 2020  USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the availability of $27 million in funding for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP). FMLFPP has two subprograms – the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) and the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) – with a separate Request for Applications (RFA) for each […]

COVID-19 Economic Impact on Local Food Markets

March 23, 2020

The following economic impact assessment was compiled on March 18, 2020 for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition by Dawn Thilmany, Becca Jablonski, Debra Tropp, Blake Angelo, and Sarah Low. More information about the authors can be found at the end of the document. Last updated March 21, 2020. Bottom Line Across key local and regional […]

RELEASE: National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Sets 2020 Policy Priorities

February 6, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana KovalcikNational Sustainable Agriculture CoalitionP: 202-547-5754, E: rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net  National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Sets 2020 Policy Priorities Washington, DC, February 4, 2020 – Last week, representatives from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (NSAC) 130+ member organizations voted on a final set of policy and funding priorities to guide the Coalition’s work through 2020. “This collaborative priority […]

Congress Clears FY 2020 Appropriations Packages

December 20, 2019

This week, after months of delay, Congress passed a much-anticipated deal to fund the government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2020. FY 2020 runs through September 30, 2020. The $1.4 trillion package of discretionary spending bills, which was divided up into two “minibuses”, was finally delivered this week after months of rigorous advocacy […]

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