Grant Program Aids Local Foods Effort

By Jim massey

If one thing became abundantly clear during the pandemic that has plagued the nation and world during the past 2-1/2 years, it’s that the food-distribution system in this country can be extremely fragile.

Sarah Lloyd, Director of Development for the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative (WFHC), has been working in the local food distribution realm for more than 10 years, helping build a system that aggregates food from Wisconsin farmers and funnels that food into the marketplace. “Covid exposed to us how brittle our supply chains really are,” Lloyd said. “For me that’s all the more reason to figure out how to develop these aggregation nodes. This is exactly why we formed the (Food Hub) Cooperative, to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to distribute the food we need.” The WFHC is one of the partners in a new project designed to put an even greater emphasis on local food distribution. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service recently announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with Wisconsin under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). Through the LFPA, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture will purchase and distribute locally grown food from underserved producers.

Partners in the plan, under the purview of the DATCP, include the WFHC, the Wisconsin Farmers Union, and Marbleseed, formerly known as the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). The twoyear federal grant program will provide $2.94 million to Wisconsin to bring together producers, distributors, community organizations and food security partners to build a stronger local food-distribution network. Wisconsin’s tribal nations have a separate LFPA to work on similar systems specifically around tribal food systems. About half of the funding will be used for education for producers and food businesses to support the distribution, while the other half will be used to purchase the food. “The whole idea is to make sure we’re building and expanding the economic opportunities for local producers,” said Krista Knigge, administrator of DATCP’s Agricultural Development Division. “The purpose of the grant is to maintain and improve the agricultural supply chain resiliency, by supporting local and underserved producers and prioritizing the purchase and distribution of local foods into our communities.”

The program, which shifted into high gear this fall after the grant money is in hand, is calling on project partners to take on specific roles. Marbleseed will help with education and technical assistance, to recruit farmerproducers to sell their food into the local foods supply chain. The Food Hub Cooperative will help with logistics, providing trucks for distribution and warehouse space at its headquarters in Waupaca for storage. The Wisconsin Farmers Union will focus on creating a database where farmers can be listed as participants in the local food effort.

“This (grant program) is a huge deal, because this money will identify producers that typically don’t get tapped,” Lori Stern, Executive Director of Marbleseed, said. “Smaller and medium-sized operations aren’t traditionally part of larger institutional buying. This program will give them an opportunity to access those markets. “It’s like going to any business and saying suddenly we have this large demand, and we haven’t had the opportunity to scale up to meet this demand. It’s going to require more outreach, technical assistance and training around food safety to help those producers meet that demand.” The Food Hub Cooperative has built a network of more than 100 Wisconsin farms to aggregate food in its 9,000-square-foot warehouse and then sell that food into traditional wholesale markets such as Sysco and Kroger. The co-op has its own trucks to pick up food from farmers and deliver it into markets across Wisconsin as well as Chicago and the Twin Cities. That distribution network will be a critical component of the grant-funded project. “We will provide logistics and transportation to make sure local food is getting to families in need,” Lloyd said.

The Farmers Union’s role will be to develop a Chamber of Commerce-style website so farmers can let buyers know they have food to sell in the marketplace. “Farmers can be listed in the database so institutional buyers, farm-to-school projects, restaurants and anyone who sells food directly to consumers can make purchases

directly from farmers,” said Lauren Langworthy, WFU Director of Special Projects. “Some of these institutional buyers are often looking for local food but they struggle to find farmers to connect with. We’re hoping it can be a real opportunity for farmers around the state to access these opportunities.”

The Food Hub Cooperative worked with tribal nations, Feeding Wisconsin, and other partners the past two years on a tribal elder box program to provide nutritious food for tribal members age 55 and older. The WFHC provides aggregation space in its warehouse for food produced by the tribes and others who contribute to the program.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan. Through this program, the USDA will award up to $400 million through non-competitive agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional and underserved producers through the purchase of food purchased within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.

Knigge said when DATCP officials saw that agencies were eligible to apply for funds as part of the program, they connected with a diverse audience as they developed the application, including school food directors, veteran farmers, Hmong, Tribal Nations, Amish farmers and a Latina advocate. “We wanted to make sure we were incorporating their ideas into our proposal,” she said. The DATCP will use existing staff as well as one limited-term employee to jumpstart the project. “We’re working with the project partners to determine the different elements of the education and training,” Knigge said. “We’re trying to prepare proposals for workshops we might put on as well as sessions at the WFU State Convention in December and the Marbleseed conference in February.” The partners are recruiting producers and will bring many of them together to provide training and technical assistance over winter. The USDA grant extends through June of 2024.

Jim Massey is the Rural Voices Correspondent who has been reporting on agriculture nearly all his career.

For more information about the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, contact April Yancer at april.yancer@wisconsin.gov or visit the USDA website at www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-tousda/lfpacap.

Join us for a producer-facing gathering on the LFPA Program at Marbleseed’s 34th Organic Farming Conference, February 2023 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Monday, November 21, 2022 | 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Farmers, distributors, community organizations, food security organizations, and producer associations are encouraged to attend. Learn more about the WI-LFPA program, meet the program partners, and connect to the program and resources. Questions? Contact: Kara Kasten-Olson Kara.kastenolson@wi.gov | 608-720-9438 Register here: https://tinyurl.com/2p999fz6 Want to get inVolVed With lFPa in your state?

As of this printing, funding announcements are still being made. If you don’t see your state listed, contact your state Department of Agriculture to learn more.

IOWA Contact Iowa Valley RC&D info@iowalfpa.org https://iowalfpa.org/ MINNESOTA Minnesota Department of Agriculture – Alexandra Cortes and additional staff LFPAgrant.MDA@state.mn.us 651-895-0315 WISCONSIN Marbleseed localfood@marbleseed.org

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