Find Support for the Strengthening Local Food Security Act
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORK ON JULY 28, 2025"Last week, Senators Jim Justice (R-WV) and Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced the Strengthening Local Food Security Act, which would create a permanent grant program for state and Tribal governments to procure local foods for distribution in schools and food access programs. We hope to gain a groundswell of bipartisan support for this bill and the importance of local purchasing! The first step is securing more Republican cosponsors to help demonstrate the bill's bipartisan appeal. We need Partners from the states below to reach out and ask their Senators to cosponsor:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- USDA would enter into cooperative agreements with eligible units of government (States, Tribes, and territories) to purchase local food from small, mid-sized, beginning, veteran, and underserved fishers, farmers, and ranchers to distribute to schools or community organizations.
- The bill requires eligible units of government to submit an application before receiving funding. The plan must include how funds will be used to grow a local food system and promote food security, and any community partners involved in implementation.
- Within the program, units of government can directly purchase these foods or subaward the funding to partners in the region. Food purchases must be local and at least 51 percent of the total value of products purchased shall be from small, mid-sized, beginning, veteran, and underserved producers, and food distribution shall be prioritized to underserved communities.
- Agencies have 3 years to spend the funding. Agencies cannot use more than 25% of the funding for state administration, and a portion of that funding has to be used to support food safety training and technical assistance to encourage producer participation.
- Funding is allocated to entities in three steps. First, 10% of total funding is reserved for Tribal nations. Then each state and territory receives 1% of the remaining 90% of funding. Of the remaining funding, the Emergency Food Assistance Formula is applied.
- The bill includes a combination of mandatory funding ($200 million) and discretionary funding authorized through appropriations ($200 million).