The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with Montana under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). Through LFPA, the Montana Department of Agriculture seeks to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food from underserved producers.
“USDA is excited to partner with Montana to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy, and nutritious food in underserved communities,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program will improve food and agricultural supply-chain resiliency and increase local food consumption around the country.”
Through the LFPA project the Montana Department of Agriculture will help ensure most of the food produced in Montana stays with its residents by partnering with statewide organizations to increase distribution of local food from and to underserved communities and by establishing long-term buyer-seller relationships with underserved communities that will grow the local food economy.
“This is a win-win for Montana Agriculture,” said Montana Department of Agriculture Director Christy Clark. “The USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance program will bolster our state supply chains and deliver nutritious, locally-grown food to families across our state.”
The LFPA program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency. Through this program, USDA will award up to $400 million through non-competitive cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional, and underserved producers through the purchase of food produced within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.
AMS looks forward to continuing to sign agreements under this innovative program that allows state and tribal governments to procure and distribute local and regional foods and beverages that are healthy, nutritious, and unique to their geographic area.
More information about the program is available on AMS’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program webpage.
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