Baton Rouge, La. – The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) requests feedback about the new Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grant program.
Link to survey: https://form.jotform.com/232705320396150
The purpose of this survey is to receive feedback about the priorities for the new Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grant program that will be housed in the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The survey should take you about 10 minutes to complete. The LDAF will be soliciting feedback until October 18.
The goals of the RFSI program are to build resilience in the middle-of-the-food-supply-chain, provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, and support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities. RFSI will serve as an important component of USDA’s framework to transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers, and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic unearthed supply chain distribution challenges that the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program aims to resolve,” said the Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM. “The program will help strengthen Louisiana’s food supply chain, and you can help set the course by providing feedback in the short survey.”
Through the cooperative agreement, the LDAF will coordinate initiatives to build resilience across the middle-of-the-food-supply-chain in Louisiana. Funds will support expanded capacity for aggregating, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distributing locally and regionally produced food products.
Stakeholders may include, but are not limited to, small and underserved business owners, historically underserved farmers or ranchers, and other businesses that qualify under the Small Business Administration (SBA) categories of small, disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, and veteran-owned small businesses.
A Request for Applications will be announced later and posted on the LDAF website. Learn more at https://www.ldaf.la.gov/business/grants-funding/resilient-food-systems-infrastructure