The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service and the Wyandotte Nation signed a cooperative agreement under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.
This agreement will help the Tribe "purchase and distribute locally grown, produced and processed food from underserved producers," according to a Nov. 8 AMS news release.
"USDA is excited to partner with the Wyandotte Nation to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy and nutritious food in underserved communities," USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the release. "The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program will improve food and agricultural supply-chain resiliency and increase local food consumption around the country."
"The Wyandotte Nation is honored to be a part of the USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program," Chief Billy Friend said in the news release. "The LFPA program supports local, regional and underserved farmers and ranchers through the purchase of food produced within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination. We are excited to be a part of such an innovative program that allows Tribal governments to procure and distribute local and regional foods and beverages that are unique to our geographic area."
USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program provides up to $900 million to non-competitive cooperative agreements with an eye toward enabling state, territory and Tribal governments to support local, regional and underserved food producers, the release reported. It seeks to maintain or improve supply chain resiliency by purchasing food produced within 400 miles of the delivery destination.
The program's funding comes from the American Rescue Plan and USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation, according to the release.
Under USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, the Wyandotte Nation aims to purchase produce, dairy and protein from local and underserved farmers and other food producers to distribute fresh nutritious foods to their underserved community, the release reported. This project is expected to help improve and maintain the Wyandotte Nation's food and agricultural supply.
