Farm Bill Priorities
The following is a list of potential reforms to existing programs and policies, and new ideas or re-emerging ideas for new policies and programs that surfaced in initial 2023 Farm Bill brainstorming conversations among members of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s (NSAC) Marketing, Food Systems, and Rural Development Committee. This list is not comprehensive and does not represent anything final, the inclusion of something on this list does not equate to an adopted farm bill policy for NSAC, it is for deliberative and exploratory purposes.
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Local Agriculture Market Program: LAMP is an umbrella program that consists of the following separate subprograms: the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP), the Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) Program, and the Regional Food Systems Partnership (RFSP) Program.
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Increase funding for all subprograms
• Remove or reduce matching funds requirements (or reduce or eliminate for certain applicants)
• Offer smaller, $100,000 or less, FMPP grants with a streamlined application and lower barrier to apply
• Creation of a training and technical assistance center(s) for subprograms similar to GusNIP in the 2018 Farm Bill.
• Add more flexibility in the programs for regranting
• Allow for on-farm infrastructure and fixed equipment with LAMP subprograms
• Improve RFSP, including support for directly funding value chain coordinators and for regional technical assistance
• Make the mid-tier value chain applicant eligibility within VAPG easier to be used in support of food hubs and similar aggregation and marketing enterprises.
• LFPP explicitly allowed for purchase of crops and food products for market trials. Crop trials are so important to developing new markets, and often the farmer has to take on the cost of a trial.
• Require a climate resilience ranking as the last evaluation step before funding decisions for all proposals.
• Set aside in LAMP for projects which increase climate resilience and carbon sequestration
• Incorporate climate resilience in all USDA business technical assistance
Other?
If there are other priorities to strengthen LAMP, what are they?
Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), formerly known as the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives (FINI) Program, provides grants on a competitive basis to projects that help low-income consumers access and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through “cash” incentives that increase their purchasing power at locations like farmers markets. GusNIP consists of subprograms for both traditional “SNAP incentives” projects and “Produce Prescription” projects; as well as a Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center.
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● More money for SNAP incentives and Produce Prescription projects
● Lower match requirements for SNAP incentives and Produce Prescription grants
● More targeted TA and outreach to BIPOC / socially disadvantaged communities and organizations.
● Clarify program design, that all 3 redemption models (produce for produce, SNAP for produce, produce for SNAP) should be allowable
Other?
If there are other priorities to strengthen GusNIP, what are they?
SNAP, EBT and Online Redemption: A number of provisions and policies have been included in the 2014, 2018 Farm Bill and in several COVID Pandemic Response packages aimed at making it easier for local food systems and small businesses to participate in SNAP; these efforts have been important but piecemeal and have fallen short of a durable and sustainable solution.
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• Provide for wireless devices for farmers markets and direct marketing farmers in state EBT contracts
• Support viable and accessible online SNAP processing access for all small business include direct market farming operations and local cooperative grocery stores, including supporting associated open-source technology solutions
• Require USDA to move forward with previously planned rulemaking efforts to align SNAP rules and guidance in a manner that would allow CSAs to accept SNAP in a manner more consistent with the structure of CSAs than currently allowed by USDA.
Other?
If there are other priorities to strengthen SNAP/EBT processes, what are they?
Community Food Projects (CFP) competitive grants program awards grants to eligible nonprofits, tribal organizations, and food program service providers to promote self-sufficiency and increase food security in low-income communities by developing comprehensive, community-based solutions. Projects vary in scope, ranging from community gardens with market stands to marketing and consumer cooperatives, but all must involve low-income participants.
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● Support reauthorization and increased funding
● Reduce match requirements
● Ensure robust technical assistance by requiring USDA to provide one or more grants to an organization(s) to conduct outreach, TA and related activities. This had been the practice for years but it is not required and has recently stopped being something undertaken by the program.
Other?
If there are other priorities to strengthen Community Food Projects, what are they?
USDA Commodity Procurement: USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases a variety of domestically produced and processed commodity food products, through a competitive process among approved vendors. These purchases made by the AMS Commodity Procurement Program (CP) support American agriculture by encouraging the consumption of domestic foods. The products, collectively called USDA Foods, are delivered to schools, food banks, and households in communities across the country and are a vital component of our nation’s food safety net.
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● Explore reforms to federal procurement acquisitions law that would allow for USDA to preference through price premiums and other mechanisms purchases from small to midsize producers and BIPOC / socially disadvantaged producers.
● Explore reforms to TEFAP and USDA Community Procurement that would direct some percentage of those dollars to require purchases from small to midsize producers and BIPOC / socially disadvantaged producers.
● Support allied effort to advocate for broad and meaningful inclusion of culturally appropriate food in FDIPR
● Incorporate climate resilience in all USDA business technical assistance
Other
If there are other priorities to strengthen USDA Commodities, what are they?
Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Forms of Production: The 2018 Farm Bill authorized the creation of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production but in doing so provided the office with no mandatory funding. Annual discretionary appropriations championed by NSAC and several members of Congress, has allowed USDA to stand up the office and implement its authorized programs and policies. Funding has supported the piloting of urban and suburban Farm Service Agency County Committees, the establishment of an advisory committee for the office and USDA as a whole, a competitive grants program, and a Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreement program.
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Could be a priority - I need more info
Not a priority at this time
• Provide mandatory funding for the office and its associated activities
• Ensure advisory committee members are compensated for their time
• Prioritize the community agriculture focused projects (vs technology heavy approaches)
Other?
If there are other priorities to strengthen Urban Ag, what are they?
Potential New Programs and Policies
Let's Explore It!
Community-based Nutrition and Hunger Security: Create a new grant program that would support community-based efforts to purchase healthy, local/regional and culturally appropriate food directly from farmers and food hubs to provide low-income families and individuals with nutrition assistance. Include necessary reforms to federal acquisitions law to allow for program flexibility.
Urban Agriculture: Urban agriculture -- land access. Explore ways to improve stable access to land for community-based urban agriculture practitioners, such as an urban agriculture land easement program as envisioned by Sec. 103 of H.R.5266 - Urban Agriculture Healthy Food and Entrepreneur Act
Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Supply Chain Infrastructure and Workforce Investments: Support the development of local and regional livestock, dairy and poultry supply chains through investment in the expansion of existing small plants and very small processing plants, workforce development investments and improved guidance from the USDA; such as those envisioned by H.R.8431 the Strengthening Local Processing Act.
Food Hubs & Processing Infrastructure: Explore possibility of creating new dedicated support for food hubs including the expansion of infrastructure for aggregating and processing specialty crops, in addition/beyond existing programs with equity focused priorities and set-asides.
Other??
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