U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service entered into an agreement with Utah under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.
The cooperative agreement will allow Utah Department of Health to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced and processed food from underserved producers, according to a Dec. 27 news release.
“USDA is excited to partner with Utah 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."
Under the agreement, Utah has agreed to use LFPA funds to purchase food products produced by underserved food producers throughout the state and to distribution those products to underserved communities, the release reported.
The LFPA program provides up to $900 million through non-competitive cooperative agreements with states, territories and Tribal governments with the aim of supporting local, regional and underserved food producers, according to the release. The program's goal is to maintain or improve resiliency of the nation's food and agricultural supply chain by purchasing of food produced within 400 miles of delivery destination.
