The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing up to $400 million through the newly-created Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) to fund emergency food assistance provided by local producers.

The USDA hopes the program will aid local farmers and ranchers that are historically underserved while addressing an inflexible and fragile food system exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Dec. 6 USDA press release said.

“As we build back better than we were before, we will strengthen our efforts to provide emergency food assistance and expand economic opportunity for historically underserved producers by allowing state and tribal governments to buy and distribute local and regional foods and beverages that are healthy, nutritious and unique to their geographic area,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a release.

The cooperative agreements, managed by the USDA, will be awarded to governments based on the needs of their communities as well as their ability to meet the program’s goals, the release said. Eligible state and tribal governments have until April 25, 2022 to apply.

“This program will help get local and regional agricultural products into schools, food banks and other nutritional assistance programs, and organizations that reach underserved communities,” Vilsack said in the release. “It also advances our efforts to ensure that historically underserved populations gain equal access to USDA resources through a combination of grants, loans, pilot programs, technical assistance, cooperative agreements, and more.”

The LFPA is part of the USDA’s Build Back Better Food System Transformation, a $1 billion investment that “will serve as a bridge from pandemic assistance to food system transformation,” a June 4 USDA press release said.