What Happened?
The University of Buffalo has launched a food policy database to help local governments access information and resources to support local farmers and connect residents with healthy options. The federally-funded initiative is hosted by the University of Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning.
Goal
The school’s Growing Food Connections Policy Database is designed specifically for local government use for bringing healthy foods to the community while providing opportunities for local food producers. The research initiative has compiled more than 100 food policies local governments have passed to address a number of food-related issues including:
- Public investment in food systems
- Farmland protection
- Local food procurement
- Food policy council resolutions
The catalog of enacted food policies provide resources for policymakers looking to see what types of policies have been successfully enacted when crafting their own legislation. The Growing Food Connections organization also supports information-sharing and community education on healthy, local food sources through a Food Systems Reader online.
The food policy database is a five-year projected being supported by $3.96 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture program.
Other Federally-Funded Programs
The USDA recently announced 21 grants will be awarded to land-grant universities to help farmers and ranchers with disabilities continue to produce food for their communities. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture gave out a total of $4.1 million through the AgrAbility Program to support disabled farmers and ranchers.
Because ranchers and farmers with disabilities are more susceptible to a second injury or prolonged low productivity levels, the USDA is offering financial support to help this population overcome barriers and continue their work. The AgrAbility program provides support to state-level farmer and rancher initiatives, as well as fuels academic research programs studying agriculture production-related employment issues.
The AgrAbility program partners with universities and nonprofits to offer educational programs addressing:
- Farm safety
- New technologies designed for workers with disabilities
- Direct services for agricultural workers
- Information sharing with other organizations in the industry
- Tools to improve financial stability and access to life activities
The typical award provides up to $180,000 annually for four years to qualifying institutions. So far the program has awarded grants to 35 states and provided assistance to more than 12,000 farmers and ranchers nationwide.
Furthermore, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture allocates more than $51 million in grants to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry through research and marketing. The Specialty Crop Initiative is designed to help food producers overcome national, regional and multistate challenges to ensure specialty crops remain a sustainable component of the country’s food production.
The USDA defines a specialty crop as a fruit or vegetable, tree nut, dried fruit or horticulture and nursery crops as well as floriculture. The foods must be cultivated for sale or subsistence and cannot be collected from wild plants. To qualify for a specialty crop initiative grant, programs must address at least one of five focus areas:
- Research in plant breeding, genetic, genomics, and other methods to improve crop characteristics
- Efforts to identify and address threats from pests and diseases
- Efforts to improve production efficiency, handling and processing, productivity, and profitability
- New innovations and technology
- Methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control and respond to potential food safety hazards
The grants are typically awarded to land-grant institutions, nonprofits, institutions of higher education and state agriculture experiment stations.
Food Policies
Gov1 has monitored several food-related policies as well as grants funding food initiatives.