Some USDA freezes lifted but $1.7M in Vermont local-food grants were terminated, agency says

Abby Wellard of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets told a legislative committee that federal freezes on a number of USDA-funded programs have begun to lift, allowing grant awards already approved to move forward and federal reimbursements to be filed. She also said two locally administered programs that had been committed to Vermont — Local Food in Schools and Childcare (LFCC) and a Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) round — were terminated, leaving $1,700,000 in planned support unavailable.

Wellard said the Resilient Food System Infrastructure (RFSI) grant program “has been unfrozen,” and the agency has staff and awards ready to execute. The agency reported three staff positions supported by the RFSI funds (about 1.9 full-time equivalents) and said it had $3,000,000 in grants ready. Of that, infrastructure awards for six projects totaling $2,000,000 were sent to recipients, and roughly $1,000,000 in additional RFSI awards — covering 13 approved projects — remain pending a final internal review by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) before they can be executed.

Nut graf: The committee heard that while some federal programs are again moving money and reimbursing state costs, other federal-funded initiatives that supported school meal programs, childcare food access and farm-to-food-bank purchases were canceled, and uncertainty about federal staffing and program allocations is complicating delivery and planning for Vermont farms, food hubs and community partners.

Wellard described RFSI as a one-time appropriation distributed through AMS, funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.…