USDA has created new economic opportunities in the growing market for local and regional foods. USDA supports the industry through investments in the form of production research, credit and conservation assistance, infrastructure investments that connect farmers and consumers, and strategies to increase access to healthy foods in rural and urban communities. These investments have helped the market for local food grow to an estimated $11.7 billion in 2014. Between the fiscal years 2009-2014, USDA invested more than $800 million in more than 29,100 local and regional food businesses and infrastructure projects.
The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative (KYF2) coordinates this work across USDA. The KYF2 website is a one-stop shop for resources and information about USDA programs and support for local and regional food systems. In addition to featuring information about relevant grants, loans, research and other tools, the KYF2 website features the Compass, which maps more than 4,500 federally funded local food projects on the Compass Map from USDA and 11 other federal agencies between fiscal years 2009-2014. All of the data on the map are downloadable, searchable, and updated annually.
Some of these projects include:
Those that helped farmers and ranchers tap into new, local markets:
- Between 2009-2014, the number of Value Added Producer Grants awarded to local food projects jumped by more than 500%. During 2013-14, USDA dedicated nearly $11 million — nearly half of the awarded funds — to 116 unique local food projects through this program.
- Producers constructed nearly 15,000 high tunnels on farms around the country between 2010-2015.
- Provided nearly 15,000 microloans to farmers. This program provides smaller loans of up to $50,000 for small-scale, diversified producers and 70% of these loans have gone to beginning farmers.
- Expanded consumers’ access to information about local food through our National Farmers Market Directory, which now lists nearly 8,500 farmers markets nationwide. USDA has also launched several new Local Food Directories for Community Supported Agriculture enterprises, food hubs, and on-farm stores.
- Launched a new program through the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Market News to gather and report prices for local food and organic products. This data can be used by Farm Service Agency loan officers and the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program to provide the right level of coverage for farms selling into these premium markets.
Those that improved infrastructure to connect producers with new markets:
- Made more than 900 investments in local food infrastructure between 2009-2015 — including food hubs, local processing facilities and distribution networks — to help connect farmers and consumers through strong regional supply chains and create jobs along the way.
- Supported a near doubling of the number of food hubs between 2009-2014, with more than 300 now operational around the country.
- Invested in direct sales opportunities like farmers markets. The number of farmers markets has grown by 81% nationally since 2008. Since 2009, USDA has helped more consumers connect directly with farmers through the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), providing $60 million in assistance for more than 900 projects nationwide. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded FMPP to include the Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP), which supports other local food marketing channels like food hubs, distribution networks, and CSAs. LFPP has funded more than 350 projects totaling nearly $25 million since it launched in 2014.
Those that helped improve access to healthy, local food:
- Expanded access to healthy foods in underserved communities by increasing the number of farmers markets that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. More than 6,000 farmers markets and direct marketing farmers now accept EBT, and SNAP redemption at farmers markets nationwide rose from $4 million in 2009 to more than $18 million in 2014.
- Invested in 221 projects in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands more than the past three years that help to create new marketing opportunities for farmers and ranchers in schools through the Farm to School grant program, which began in 2013 and is funded through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. According to preliminary data from USDA’s Farm to School Census, schools spent nearly $600 million on local food purchases during the 2013-2014 school year.
- Supported communities that use local food as a strategy to reduce food insecurity. Between fiscal years 2009-2014, USDA has provided $28 million to 154 Community Food Projects in 48 states to help communities improve access to healthy, local food.