What’s Next for Farms Together & Local Food for Hungry Families?

This blog is a collaboration between Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Fresh Approach.

Harvestly, a proud Farms Together partner, is bringing the freshest veggies straight to the SLO Food Bank to nourish the community.

March started off as a rollercoaster ride when news broke that Farms Together—our program delivering food sourced from local farmers to food insecure communities across California—had been paused indefinitely. Seven days later, after many farmers raised alarm bells across California and the U.S., the program was restored. Despite the significant victory, the program’s future remains uncertain.

Over the past year, the California Association of Food Banks, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and Fresh Approach worked with over 500 farmers to supply food to over 50 food banks. The result of this collaboration? Over 20 million dollars spent on fresh food, equaling roughly 18 million meals distributed to people in need across the state.

Building on lessons learned from pandemic-era programs, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program—the federal program/initiative funding Farms Together—was uniquely designed to keep food dollars in local communities. By investing in small farmers and trusting them to feed their communities, the program has created new opportunities in often overlooked areas of the state. These investments, particularly those in rural communities, have enabled farmers to expand their operations and strengthen their businesses.

“Farms Together really gave us hope for the future of our farm. It took so much to get our farm started and Farms Together was really the push that helped us make ends meet. All work was done manually as we just didn’t have the funds to purchase big equipment or hire help. Farms Together helped us grow our business to where we could purchase a work vehicle and supplies to sustain the farm.”

–Kao Youa Moua, Vang Farming Ventures, Fresno County

Farms Together, as well as other LFPA-funded programs across the country, have been highly successful because they created a viable channel for small farmers to sell their products to their communities. Unfortunately, local food is often too expensive for the same community that grew it. According to a 2023 report by CoBank, 87% of rural areas face food insecurity in the U.S. By paying farmers market price for their produce and then delivering that produce to the communities those farmers belong to, LFPA tackled this issue. In doing so, the program reduced weekly food costs, increased access to nutritious food, and increased the circulation of money within the community.

The freeze had significant impacts

As farmers celebrated the success of the program, the 2-week-pause also had impacts. Food is often grown with specific markets and seasons in mind, with harvesting taking place days—or even hours—before washing and delivery. Abruptly losing a buyer a week prior to delivery can have catastrophic effects for small businesses, in some cases leading them to bankruptcy. In the case of Farms Together, the two-week forced hiatus resulted in nearly one million dollars in lost sales for farmers, while program operators faced potential layoffs. As Mariela Buenrostro from Raul & Family Farms explained:

“Raúl & Family depends heavily on the Farms Together program as we were delivering to two different food hubs anywhere from 700 – 3,000 items weekly. Not only [was] the lack of income devastating to our farm, it brings a massive uncertainty to the future of farming for our family.” –Mariela Buenrostro, Raul & Family Farms, Riverside County

The program will continue…for now

Funding for Farms Together flows through a contract between the California Department of Social Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, signed in 2022. It has come through three different LFPA funding packages: LFPA, LFPA+, and LFPA 2025.

Over one week, California farmers called USDA and congressional offices, shared their stories with press and on social media, and voiced their needs to California state leadership. The fruits of their labor were bittersweet. USDA officials restored LFPA & LFPA+ but recently signaled their intention to cut the final tranche of committed funding — LFPA 2025 — which would limit the ability of Farms Together to operate into 2026.

美国农业部 issued the following statement to press on March 10th:

USDA can confirm it has provided notice to States, Territories and Tribes that the FY2025 funding previously announced for the pandemic-era Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement (LFSCC) and pandemic-era Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program (LFPA25) is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.

These programs, created under the former Administration via Executive authority, no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. LFPA and LFPA Plus agreements that were in place prior to LFPA 25, which still have substantial financial resources remaining, will continue to be in effect for the remainder of the period of performance.  AMS will resume processing claims for payment for LFPA and LFPA Plus for activities accruing prior to and after January 20, 2025.

Get involved

The reinstatement of Farms Together is a victory worth celebrating. Through collective action, the voices of farmers and allies were heard, but the fight isn’t over. Farms Together IS restored – though only temporarily. Look for additional updates from CAFF and Fresh Approach in the days to come as we build on our collective success to restore the current funding for the program.