Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Feeding Louisiana Farm To Food Bank topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Food banks and farmers ask Legislature for $5 million to replace lost federal produce purchases
Summary
Feeding Louisiana and regional food banks asked senators for a $5 million appropriation to buy Louisiana-grown produce and protein for the state’s food-distribution network after a federal purchasing program was cut, with farmers saying local purchases support jobs and keep money in local economies.
Jane Velez, executive director of the Food Bank of Central Louisiana and a Feeding Louisiana board member, told the committee that Feeding Louisiana seeks $5 million to purchase local produce and protein for distribution through the food-bank network and partners in all 64 parishes.
Velez said the federal program (LFPA) that helped create producer–food-bank supply channels was cut without notice, leaving farmers and food banks with contracts and inventory planning disrupted. “Those funds allow us to buy produce from about 200 different farmers, representing about 28 parishes,” she said, and asked the committee to appropriate $5 million to reconstitute those local purchasing channels.
Multiple farmers described how the program enabled them to invest—hiring H-2A workers, buying inputs and creating payroll—and said local purchasing circulates money in rural economies. Betty Chenier, a small specialty-grower, said her family has farmed for decades and that the local-market sales through food banks create needed stability: “This has enabled us to create jobs for our people,” she said.
Senators asked for documentation and deposit history for prior federal and state programs and for Feeding Louisiana to provide program metrics on farmers, pounds and parish distribution. Second Harvest and Feeding Louisiana said the state grants they received in prior years were fully routed to farmers (no administrative set-aside).
Ending: Committee members encouraged advocates to deliver detailed contracting histories and to work with Rep. Romero’s concurrent resolution seeking the federal funds’ restoration; senators signaled interest in state support while documentation and federal steps were clarified.
