Georgia food banks seek $5 million to expand purchase program for surplus Georgia-grown produce

Kyle Wade, CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, told the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs committee that demand for emergency food assistance has surged: “We're serving 70% more people today than we did just 4 years ago and currently serve about 260,000 households every month, through our network.” Wade described capacity investments including a 350,000-square-foot warehouse and about 80,000 square feet of freezer-cooler space that let the bank move more perishable food across its 29-county service area.

Julie Kuykendahl, director of Feeding Georgia, said the statewide network now works with more than 2,400 partner agencies and praised the Georgia Farm-to-Food-Bank purchase program for matching surplus agricultural production to people facing food insecurity. “So we are humbly and and, asking for $5,000,000 to expand that program this year,” Kuykendahl said, asking the committee to approve a targeted state appropriation to increase discounted purchases of oversupplied Georgia-grown produce.

Matthew, from the Georgia Department of Agriculture Marketing Division, briefed members on complementary federally funded activity. He said the Local Food Procurement Assistance (LFPA) program — a USDA-funded initiative that enabled large-volume purchases from Georgia producers — is winding down as federal funding ends this fiscal year, and reported roughly $4,400,000 in purchases from Georgia producers through the LFPA. He also told the panel the LFPA had helped more than 40 farms access wholesale supply chains and that food banks had used provided funds to purchase higher-value specialty crops.

Supporters argued the requested $5 million would (1) preserve a market for growers when prices fall, (2) increase distribution of fresh, nutritious Georgia-grown produce to food-insecure households, and (3) leverage existing storage and transportation capacity built by food banks. Committee members were told the Atlanta Community Food Bank distributes approximately 40,000,000 pounds of fresh food annually sourced largely from grocery retail donations and purchases.

Committee chair noted the presentations and deferred detailed questions to a later fuller hearing but indicated the topic — state support for connecting Georgia growers to the emergency-food network as federal funding recedes — will be taken up again in the committee's next scheduled meeting.