The Kansas Department of Agriculture began accepting applications Monday under a $6.46 million grant program designed to improve local or regional supply chain infrastructure across the state for foods destined to be consumed by humans. The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program initiated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks to expand processing, manufacture, storage, transportation as well as wholesaling or distribution of agricultural products. The investments would be concentrated on the middle of the food supply chain, which could be defined as the area bookended by harvests and retail stores. The program would feature businesses engaged in specialty crops, dairy produce, grains for human consumption and aquaculture. It would exclude meat and poultry products funded through other USDA programs. “In order for the nation’s food system to be more resilient, there is an increased need to focus on bolstering our local food supply chain,” said Mike Beam, the state’s agriculture department secretary. He said the grant program was an opportunity to create economic opportunities for Kansas food and farm businesses and other eligible applicants, including nonprofit organizations, local government entities, tribal governments as well as hospitals and schools.
Source: The Lawrence Times
