United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today announced that it is inviting proposals to evaluate the impact of the agency’s grant and loan programs on regional food supply chains.
The agency is making $750,000 available to measure how well USDA Rural Development programs are creating market opportunities for small- and mid-sized farmers and independent agricultural businesses throughout the food supply chain.
In 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA launched the Food Transformation Initiative to create a more distributed and fair food system. USDA Rural Development has provided funding for several programs under this initiative, including the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program and the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program.
The agency is making the funds announced today available to show how USDA Rural Development’s investments in local and regional food supply chains have:
• Created a more resilient, diverse and secure food system.
• Resulted in more fair and accessible food systems with more and better market opportunities.
• Led to more economically viable farm and food businesses and healthy rural communities.
Additional information on this funding opportunity is available on Grants.gov. Completed applications must be submitted via Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 8, 2023.
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