“A bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish the Strengthening Local Food Security Program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Strengthening Local Food Security Program, under which USDA enters into noncompetitive cooperative agreements with eligible units of government (i.e., state agencies responsible for agriculture, procurement, food distribution, or emergency response; DC; Puerto Rico; U.S. Virgin Islands; Guam; Tribal governments) to purchase food (including seafood, produce, meat, eggs, dairy, and poultry) from local and regional covered producers (i.e., small- or mid-sized, beginning, veteran, or underserved fishers, farmers, or ranchers) and distribute it within their boundaries, including to hunger-relief organizations and schools participating in federal school meal programs. The program's purposes include improving food and agricultural supply chain resiliency, expanding economic opportunities for covered producers, promoting food security, and strengthening the food system for food banks, schools, and childcare institutions. Of appropriated funds, the program allocates (1) 10% to Tribal governments using a USDA-determined formula; (2) 1% of remaining funds to each state (treating multiple state agencies as one unit); and (3) remaining funds to other eligible units using the commodity allotment formula under 7 U.S.C. 7515 (i.e., 60% based on state share of national poverty population and 40% based on state share of national average monthly unemployment). Eligible units must submit applications with detailed plans within one year of allocation, or funds are redistributed to other eligible units.