What’s a potato’s least favorite day of the week? FRY-day! 🍟 Sorry, spud. We like our tots nice and crispy. ♨️
You know what’s not small potatoes? 🥔 Funding for a very important Ohio food program may come to a halt at the end of the year. If funds dry up, it could spell trouble for food banks and farmers. 🚨
Here’s Five Fast Facts on funding for Ohio farmers:
- 🧑🌾 Farm to Table - Back in 2022, the USDA launched the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA), known in Ohio as CAN. Through the program, food banks statewide received big bucks to buy food from local farmers.
- 💵 Go Fund Me - The bad news? Funding for LFPA and CAN is set to expire at the end of the year. That means there’s only enough funding to support Ohio farmers through June 30, 2025. Program officials are looking for gap funding to stay afloat.
- 🥕 CAN-Do Attitude - Ohio CAN is totes necessary since it helps smaller growers and farmers gain access to distribution chains, like Ohio food banks. Through CAN, more Ohio residents receive fresh produce, meat, and dairy products. The program also gives small farms an economic boost, helping them thrive.
- 🍈 Millions of Melons - Since the start of the Ohio CAN program, a whopping $9.8 million worth of food has been purchased from local farmers across the state. That’s a lot of fruits and veggies!
- ⚖️ Bills, Bills, Bills - So what’s the hold up? Funding for LFPA depends on authorization through the Farm Bill, which is only passed by Congress every five to six years. The current election year has also made a push for renewal more difficult.
🔥Bottom line: Access to fresh food is a necessity for every American family. The farmers who support local food banks should have access to the resources they need to keep the machine going…and growing. Wanna save on groceries without clipping coupons? Check out the tips in this article.
Do you donate to a local food bank?
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