The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently used $100 million under the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program to provide nearly $1 billion in loan guarantees for private investors in the U.S. food supply.
The guarantees, meant for private investment in processing and food supply infrastructure, are aimed at strengthening the U.S. food supply chain, a USDA press release said. The department believes the investments will provide greater access to healthier foods and more opportunities for farmers to receive fair prices for their produce. USDA also hopes the funds will address logistical issues in the industry.
“The pandemic exposed vulnerabilities and created extreme disruptions in America’s food supply chain,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “The reduction in meat processing capacity is just one example of the supply chain bottlenecks that affect small and midsize farmers. Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, USDA is investing in ways to improve America’s food supply chain.”
The USDA will guarantee loans of up to $40 million through the program and partner with lenders to make the funds available to eligible applicants. Those eligible include “cooperatives, corporations, for profits, nonprofits, Tribal communities, public bodies and people in rural and urban areas,” the release said.
The funds are being made available through the American Rescue Plan Act, part of the White House’s effort to “address food system challenges dating back decades and further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the release said. Vilsack added that the funding “will leverage approximately a billion dollars in public and private-sector investments that will significantly expand meat and poultry processing capacity.”
Applications for the loans, administered by USDA Rural Development, are being accepted electronically through the Food Supply Chain Online Application System at rd.usda.gov until funds are exhausted, the release said,
The program is part of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better Initiative, a plan to invest $4 billion towards strengthening the U.S. food supply chain after disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the release said.
