Discontinued funding for local food purchasing hurts community-based nutrition

By Dennis Archambault

The connection between local growers and nutrition has increased in recent years as urban agriculture and programs like “Fresh Prescription (Fresh Rx)” connect food insecure or malnourished populations with fresh food. However states have been notified that they will no longer be receiving $1 billion in funding for this purpose, as reported in  Politico, a Washington, D.C., publication.

The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement programs were innovative ways that promoted the direct sale of local produce to schools, community food pantries and other sources. The Biden Administration’s final budget allocated $1 billion for these programs. The discontinuation has come through a presidential executive order.

The Fresh Rx program creates an incentive for people with chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes to improve their diet by incorporating fresh produce, with the help of a nutritional counselor. Physicians “prescribe” the six-week program, which covers the cost of fresh food provided through Detroit’s Eastern Market – which is committed to purchasing locally-grown fruits and vegetables during the growing season.

The Trump administration’s move to halt the programs comes as school nutrition officials are becoming increasingly anxious about affording healthy food with the current federal reimbursement rate for meals. The cost of food, coupled with the overall financial strain on households, has forced people to appeal to programs offered by Gleaners and Forgotten Harvest to supplement their grocery purchases.

Several years ago, local farm-to-community marketing found state funding through the 10 Cents a Meal program. Developed initially to promote the purchase of local farm produce in Northwest Michigan and eventually spread throughout the state is a novel way to incentivize school systems to purchase locally grown food. The MOTION Coalition supported the growth of this program to serve the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Urban farms and community gardens are a vital component for resolving food insecurity and malnutrition. They are also a source of economic vitality through income generation and job creation, community building and blight removal, and childhood/lifelong learning. But they are also fragile as the environment they cultivate and the human beings (and other creatures) they enrich. And like any ecosystem, they require support: rain, sun, moderate warmth, healthy soil. Like their big siblings – the family and corporate farms – urban farms require support. The U.S. Farm Bill, through the advocacy of former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, found a way to provide relief and support for big farmers and the small urban farmer. Marketplaces like the Eastern Market have grown as well, serving as a meeting place for local growers and bigger regional farmers.

The programs that the federal government is discontinuing have benefited both small local growers and bigger regional farmers. We can only hope that the state government will pick up the slack in Michigan.

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health. The MOTION Coalition is a community initiative hosted by Authority Health to address childhood obesity through policy advocacy and community convening.