On Wednesday, 5月 31, 2022, Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture, made a major announcement about the funding of a framework to transform the food supply. Referencing supply chain issues as the impetus for the changes, Vilsack laid out a comprehensive plan which would, if implemented thoroughly, decrease further supply chain issues and increase access to healthy, organic food for millions.

概要：

The welcome and surprising news was that funding for organic food production, primarily transitioning from conventional to organic, jumped from $20 million in previous years to $300 million. 

In addition, a major victory for the health and food movement is that $40 million in funding will support produce as prescription...in other words, food as medicine. This funding will support doctors to be able to prescribe fresh (hopefully organic and local) produce to patients who have limited access to proper nutrition. 

Up to $175 million is slated for urban agriculture, $400 million to create regional food business centers to support access to local food, $60 million for the Farm-to-School program, $155 million to reduce food deserts, and even $50 million for senior centers to have greater access to local farmers market produce.

Moms Across America is thrilled to see our government taking steps in the right direction! We can imagine food movement friends dancing in their kitchen right now. While many organizations have made requests and worked for many years for this outcome, we want to let our supporters know that Moms Across America made many requests of this administration to do many of the things that are now being implemented. Particularly in our letter titled 4 Investments 4 the Future, we asked the administration for the following:

1. Shift the budgeted subsidies for GMO crops and their related chemicals and allocate the funds to schools, senior centers, prisons, and veteran agencies for organic food
2. Prioritize funding to support nonprofits that raise awareness about the CAUSE of these illnesses
3. Shift a portion of the budget to support new, young, and minority farmers
4. Shift the budget from unnecessary war weapon expenditures to supporting community centers (such as Moms across America centers in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club or libraries), which support local moms and families

 Our letter to Tom Vilsack, head of the USDA, and Michael Regan of the EPA, and Bernie Sanders, Head of the Budget Committee, can be found here.

新しい計画は砂に線を引きます。

地元の食品、健康的な農産物、有機食品へのアクセスを増やすためのインフラストラクチャに投資する時が来ました。これは、効果的に実施されれば、私たちの国と将来の世代にとって画期的なものになる可能性があります。 

Meat processing was a major focus of the plan, as 85% of the meat industry is currently operated by only four corporations. When one facility closes, hundreds of thousands or millions of livestock processing are backed up and unable to be distributed. Many, including the newly released Eating our Way to Extinction producers, argue that animal agriculture contributes to climate change and would likely find fault with this funding. It should be noted however that this funding seems as if it is primarily slated to support local small organic and regenerative farmers whose practices have a much smaller impact on the environment than confined animal factory feeding operations that require millions of acres of toxic GMO corn and soy mono-crops. While the funding of the animal processing plants is not the solution vegans are hoping for, it does reduce the dependency on GMO mono-crops that have been the reason for the destruction of rainforests and sacred lands.

Are we naive to the corruption that could result from these hundreds of millions of dollars being doled out to organizations and companies? No. Are we skeptical if the money will merely line the pockets of more Fat Cats? Yes. But is there also a possibility that we have made progress? Has the food movement educated Tom Vilsack and his team that regenerative organic farming and access to organic food are essential? Clearly, the answer is yes. We commend every person who has spoken up, called, texted, posted, and met with legislation. THANK YOU!

See below to read a more detailed description of the USDA funding.

USDAの発表からの抜粋：

食料生産

この国の農民や牧場主は、近所の人や地域社会に食料を供給するために毎日一生懸命働いています。パンデミックは、市場にアクセスし、食料ドルのかなりの部分を獲得する際に直面する多くの課題にスポットライトを当てました。特に中小規模の事業は苦戦しており、新規農家の参入障壁は依然として多すぎることを私たちは知っています。 USDAは、アメリカの農家が地元で加工し、地元で販売し、彼らのビジネスと気候に良い慣行を採用するための選択肢を増やすことに焦点を当てています。将来のUSDA投資には次のものが含まれます。

• Up to $300 million in a new Organic Transition Initiative to provide comprehensive support for farmers to transition to organic production. Organic production allows producers to demand a premium in the marketplace and thus take home a more significant share of the food dollar; climate and environmental benefits can also be. This initiative will deliver wrap-around technical assistance, including farmer-to-farmer mentoring, provide direct support through conservation financial assistance and additional crop insurance assistance, and support market development projects in targeted markets.
• Up to $75 million to support urban agriculture. From farms within city boundaries to community gardens, urban agriculture plays a vital role in connecting producers and consumers to food, agriculture, and one another while contributing to the local economy. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 authorized the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production to award competitive grants to support urban agriculture. Yet, in 2020 and 2021, only six percent of all applications received were funded. USDA will invest $20 million in funding a backlog of applications and an additional $10 million increase in money available for the 2022 funding year. Additionally, USDA will invest $40 million in cooperative agreements with organizations to support outreach and training activities for urban farmers. These funds will expand access to nutritious foods, foster community engagement, increase awareness of climate change, mitigate the effects within urban areas, provide jobs, educate communities about farming, and expand green spaces. USDA also is supporting local production by investing $5 million through the People’s Garden initiative.

These actions build on the Organic Certification and Transition Cost Share program that was previously announced that provides pandemic assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP); this process can be costly and can be a barrier to market access for limited resource producers. USDA also announced the Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program earlier this year, which will provide support to workers in food production and processing who faced challenges during the pandemic.

食品加工

パンデミックは、食品サプライチェーンの真ん中での課題を浮き彫りにしました。統合された処理能力は供給のボトルネックを生み出し、それが有効なプラントと屠殺能力の低下につながりました。中小規模の農家は、アクセスの処理をめぐって競争するのに苦労することが多く、動物を市場に出すための手段がありませんでした。これらの課題に取り組むことは、フードシステムを変革するための鍵です。より分散した地域の能力を構築することは、市場の混乱に対する回復力を構築し、生産者が付加価値のある製品を作成して地域で販売するためのより多くの選択肢を提供し、農村コミュニティにおける新しい経済的機会と雇用創出を支援するのに役立ちます。 USDAは、新たに拡大した地域の処理能力をサートし、労働力開発への過少投資やセクターへの新規参入者への障壁など、サプライチェーンの真ん中での課題に対処するための投資をすでに行っています。以前の発表は次のとおりです。

• The Food Supply Chain Loan Guarantee Program will back private lenders that invest in independently owned food processing, distribution and aggregation infrastructure, and other projects along the middle of the supply chain. Independently owned and available infrastructure such as cold storage, refrigerated trucks, and processing facilities are in short supply but essential to creating a more resilient food system. USDA has deployed $100 million to make more than $1 billion in guaranteed loans available immediately. The program is accepting applications.
• Deployment of up to $375 million in support of independent meat and poultry processing plant projects fills a demonstrated need for a more diversified processing capacity. These investments will be made in two phases. The first phase of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program will deploy $150 million in grants up to $25 million each to expand processing capacity through various activities, including but not limited to construction, expansion of existing facilities, and acquisition of equipment. The first phase recently closed, accepting more than 200 applications, representing more than $800 million in funding requests.
• Creation of a robust technical assistance network to ensure that participants in USDA’s meat and poultry supply chain initiatives have access to a full range of technical assistance to support their project development and success. Meat and poultry processing facilities are complex, with many technical standards and requirements; the odds of successfully starting or expanding a facility are higher with access to expertise and experience. USDA is deploying $25 million through the Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Technical Assistance Program.
• Investment of up to $275 million in partnership with lenders to address the credit access gap for meat and poultry processing projects because lenders have been reticent to invest in the meat and poultry sector without incentives to do so given the risk profile and lack of experience in the sector. USDA will work with lenders to make more capital available to independent processors that need credit, providing loans and other support to businesses at rates and on terms that increase access to long-term, affordable capital.

追加の計画された投資は次のとおりす。

• Investment of up to $100 million to support the development of a pipeline of well-trained workers and safe workplaces in the processing sector. A reliable, well-trained workforce will be essential to the success of independent meat and poultry processing facilities. Still, there are currently very few training programs that prepare workers for these jobs. Initially, USDA will invest $40 million into existing National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) programs, including the Extension Risk Management Education Program, Sustainable Agriculture Research Education Program, Agricultural Workforce Training Program, and Centers of Excellence specifically focused on supporting workforce development for meat and poultry processing. USDA will also make investments to promote innovation and research and development to support independent business owners, entrepreneurs, producers, and other groups, such as cooperatives and worker associations, creating new capacity or expanding existing capacity.
• $200 million for Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program for specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses. These operations incur high costs to comply with regulatory requirements and market-driven food safety certification requirements each year, and getting these certifications opens new market opportunities for the farmers. The ongoing economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made meeting those requirements even more financially challenging and more critical to access additional markets.
• Up to $600 million in financial assistance to support food supply chain infrastructure that the meat and poultry processing program does not cover. Independently owned and available infrastructure such as cold storage, refrigerated trucks, and processing facilities are in short supply but essential to creating a more resilient food system. USDA will invest in addressing the limited processing, distribution, storage, and aggregation capacity for various food sectors, including high equipment costs, lack of competition, and narrow supply chain and value chain coordination.

食品の流通と集約

必要な場所で必要なときに食品を収集、移動、保持するための適切なインフラストラクチャを適切な場所に配置することが、フードシステムの回復力の鍵となります。サプライチェーンを短縮する取り組みは、生産者にとってより多くの収入機会を提供し、消費者が地元で生産された製品を購入するためのより多くのオプションを提供します。同時に、サプライチェーンを短縮することは気候に本質的なメリットをもたらします。 USDAは、以下を含む、地元および地域の食料システムを強化するための一連の投資を行います。

• Investment of $400 million to create regional food business centers that will provide coordination, technical assistance, and capacity-building support to small and mid-size food and farm businesses, mainly focused on processing, distribution and aggregation, and market access challenges. The business development needs of food businesses are distinct from other small businesses. Existing business support networks like those the Small Business Administration provides are insufficient to develop robust local and regional markets where food businesses flourish. The Centers will be designed to target support to underserved communities in a particular region as identified by the applicant.
• Investing $60 million to leverage increased commodity purchases through Farm-to-School. Farm-to-school programs are a proven model of increasing markets for farmers via child nutrition programs while also providing children with healthy, fresh food. These grants to states and territories administering farm-to-school programs will support increased procurement and use of local foods in child nutrition program meals.
• Investing up to $90 million to prevent and reduce food loss and waste. The United States wasted $408 billion worth of food in 2019 – more than a third of the total U.S. food supply. Wasted food results in unnecessary uses of energy and methane and CO2 emissions; reducing food waste can help the United States meet its climate commitments. USDA will invest an additional $30 million in the Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction Program and fund a feasibility study and corresponding actions to support a National Food Loss and Waste Strategy.

These investments build on previous announcements including a $130 million increase to the Local Agriculture Marketing Program, which will fund activities that expand and strengthen opportunities for local and regional food producers to sell to institutions, such as universities, hospitals, and settings operated by local, tribal, and state governments.

市場と消費者

パンデミックは、この国の食糧と栄養の不安定さの課題を露呈し、悪化させました。手頃な価格で栄養価の高い食品を入手できない米国の家族は受け入れられません。 USDAは、以下の投資を通じて消費者が健康的な食品にアクセスできるように支援しながら、多様な生産の市場への新規および拡大されたアクセスをサポートします。

• Increase funding to the Healthy Food Financing Initiative by $155 million. Many communities lack adequate, affordable access to healthy food and are ‘food deserts.’ This program provides grants and loans to entities that offer healthy food in underserved communities by grocery stores and other food retailers. The program increases access to healthy foods, offers new market opportunities for farmers and ranchers, stabilizes small and independent retailers, and creates quality jobs and economic opportunities in low-income communities.
• An additional $50 million in the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. This program supports nutrition security for seniors by increasing access to locally grown fruit and vegetables. Current funding levels for this program are insufficient for all States to provide the maximum benefit of $50 per participant per season.
• An additional $40 million in the GusNIP Produce Prescriptions Program. Many prevalent health conditions stem from nutrient-deficient diets. This program funds projects that demonstrate and evaluate the impacts of new produce prescriptions to increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption, improve health, and reduce food insecurity. Since launching this program following the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, demand has increased by 30 percent each year.
• $25 million to support SNAP technology improvements to modernize the delivery of incentive programs through SNAP’s electronic benefits transfer (EBT) technology. Reliable, affordable, user-friendly technology is vital to enabling producers and food businesses to accept SNAP benefits from customers. This will support more project funds from incentives rather than the administrative costs of delivering the incentive.
• $100 million to create a new Healthy Food Incentive Fund, which will support school food authorities to innovate and accelerate their efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school meals to children. With these funds, USDA will support peer-to-peer learning and recognize local programs for their leadership, excellence, and efforts to deliver healthy, nutritious food.