USDA recently announced $33.5 million in grant projects aimed at new market opportunities for local and regional food businesses.
That includes the Local Food Promotion Program, the Regional Food Systems Partnership, and the Farmers Market Promotion Program. One example is in the city of Torrance, California.
According to Under Secretary Jennifer Moffitt, “They received a Farmers Market Promotion Program Grant to improve the accessibility of Torrance Farmers Market. They’re doing that through a distribution program for senior citizens who have mobility and other obstacles that prevent them from navigating the market— can now instead through this program will have the opportunity to receive pre-box, assorted fresh produce packages at distribution sites.”
Another example is in Wayland, Iowa where a local food promotion program was added to help improve regional meat sales by establishing an online farmers market.
