USDA will assist farmers and distribute 1.5 billion worth of food

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy $1.5 billion worth of food for nationwide distribution through its ongoing Farmers to Families Food Box Program, an effort under which the agency already has purchased more than $3.57 billion worth of food to support both American farmers and families impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement on Jan. 4 marks the fifth round of food purchases made as part of the program designed to provide cash-strapped families with nutritious food and give farmers an outlet for their goods as restaurants and hotels cut back purchases.

It was not immediately clear how St. Louis-area families will access the supplies. In earlier rounds, the USDA has been working with more than 240 organizations that have previously received Basic Ordering Agreements to participate.

The agency expects to award contracts for the fifth round by Jan. 19. That process will determine which of those organizations will cover Missouri.

In the fourth round — which was announced on Oct. 23, and purchased $463 million worth of food delivered between Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 — Kansas-based Liberty Fruit Company, Inc. handled distributions in Missouri, according to the USDA website.

Officials with Liberty could not immediately be reached for comment. 

A Facebook post noted that the program is being administered in Missouri by the state Department of Agriculture. Officials with the department could not be reached for comment. 

The newest funding for the program was included in the COVID-19 relief package as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed Dec. 21. In this fifth round of purchases, USDA will again buy boxes that include fresh produce, dairy products, fluid milk, and meat and seafood products.

The fourth round was funded by an additional $500 million made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, a more than $2 trillion economic relief package that was passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law in March 2020, as the pandemic began to spread medical and economic misery across the nation. 

The third round of the Food Box program provided food deliveries through Oct. 31. By the end of the third round, USDA purchased more than $3.57 billion worth of food.

In the second round of purchasing and distribution, which began July 1 and concluded Sept. 18, USDA bought more than $1.78 billion of food through extended contracts with select vendors from the first round of the program as well as new contracts focused on Opportunity Zones. The expansion was designed to help food reach underserved areas, places where either no boxes had yet been delivered, or where there was additional need.

The first round of purchases occurred from May 15 through June 30, and saw more than 35.5 million boxes delivered in the first 45 days.

The Farmers to Families Food Box program is part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the USDA. Using authority provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, USDA partnered with national, regional and local distributors, whose workforces were impacted by the closure of restaurants, hotels and other foodservice businesses, to buy and distribute agricultural products which were handed out to Americans in need.