USDA pays lip service to local food initiatives

I live in a rural Kansas community, where many of the residents either commute to larger towns for employment or are working in some facet of agriculture. As the weather warms, calves are on the ground, fertilizer buggies are rolling, and if you listen closely, you can hear the itching of farmers wanting to start working ground. Food production is the heartbeat of my home. In our region, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of restaurants sourcing meat and produce from local farms or ranches, and even our school district has adopted this practice. Although, in March 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture put a snag in that process by canceling approximately $660 million in funding for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which aided schools in purchasing domestic local foods for distribution to schools and childcare institutions. While this didn’t eliminate our district from purchasing local beef, it did transition the school district to ask for local food donations, which obviously could disincentivize cattle producers considering beef has reached never-before-seen prices over the last few years. Personally, our ranch had great interest in supplying beef, as we finish and market a sizable amount of freezer beef at our local USDA-certified butcher, however the cancelation of funding in 2025 did give us pause. We want to support the school district where our kids attend, but after learning of the funding cancelation, we stopped pursuing the option. Similarly, nationwide, fruit and vegetable farmers who had previously utilized the program and had planned on that market were forced to look elsewhere for selling their fresh produce. Imagine my surprise when I happened upon the news of the USDA Loyal Ag Market Program, or LAMP for short. According to USDA, LAMP is a collective of three grant programs — farmers market promotion, local food promotion, and regional food system partnerships — which are designed to: - Connect and cultivate regional food economies through public-private partnerships. - Support the development of business plans, feasibility studies, and strategies for value-added agricultural production and local and regional food system infrastructure. - Strengthen capacity and regional food system development through community collaboration and expansion of mid-tier value chains. - Improve income and economic opportunities for producers and food businesses through job creation; and - Simplify the application processes and the reporting processes for the program. All three programs, which received $27 million in funding this year, collectively, are managed by the USDA’s Ag Marketing Service, funded via the 2018 Farm Bill and require a 25 percent cost share from parties requesting grants. The regional food system partnership is the arm of LAMP specifically related to school food programs, and it received $4.7 million in grants to seven projects, spread across 10 states. Of those seven projects, only one grantee was directly related to school food programs — a grant in North Carolina — and the monies aren’t for purchasing local food but instead for “developing training, technical assistance and resources on farm-to-institution models that focus on local food procurement and complementary educational strategies.” While I applaud injecting some federal funding into these worthwhile endeavors, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in calculus to recognize $4.7 million is a drop in the bucket for school food programs — in one state, nonetheless — compared to the $660 million that was canceled last year. However, I am hopeful that in fiscal year 2026-27, we will have a new farm bill, not a continuation of the 2018 Farm Bill (which is a conversation for a future article), and it will include a sizable allocation for local food sourcing for childcare facilities and K-12 public schools. Expanding, implementing and utilizing local food initiatives, such as LAMP and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, clearly provide needed support to rural economies. However, they also provide learning opportunities for children regarding food production and agriculture, the benefits of which are immeasurable. In rural America, we tend to get so focused on “feeding the cows” — the everyday tasks required to keep the farm or ranch rolling and afloat — we can forget or lose sight of the big picture issues that need our attention. Overall, it’s important to remember that while we are hundreds of miles away from the nation’s capital, decisions made regarding our nation’s food supply are far-reaching and have impacts which are felt here in the heartland daily, not only by our farms and ranches but also by our local businesses, schools and children. Brandi Buzzard is a rancher, speaker and pioneer for modern and sustainable agriculture who blends authenticity and wit to spark ideas and innovation. She can most often be found horseback in southeast Kansas or on Facebook, Instagram or AcresTV.