Reducing hunger includes LFPA.
At God’s Pantry Food Bank, we care deeply about our neighbors and our farmers. That’s why we advocate for important legislation and programming that supports a robust, healthy food system for all. One such federal initiative having a tremendous impact across several communities and transforming how we address hunger, including here in the Bluegrass State, is the LFPA program.
The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) uses non-competitive cooperative agreements to provide funding for state, tribal, and territorial governments to purchase foods produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination. These agreements ensure the procurement and distribution of food and beverages that are nutritious, unique to their geographic area, and meet the needs of the local population. The purpose of this program is to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency. In short, LFPA feeds, and it empowers.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) has received $11,035,420 of the $1.4 billion allocated to this program since it began in FY2022. The LFPA program helps KDA build and expand economic opportunities for local, regional, and underserved producers. More than that, it helps them provide support that can cultivate sustainable successes past the life of the producer’s agreements. Eligible Kentucky farmers apply for funds through several grant tracks provided by the KDA, including two that directly impact the nearly 265,000 people facing hunger in our service area, Central and Eastern Kentucky.
Program participants are required to sell their unprocessed or minimally processed products to food banks and other organizations reaching under-resourced communities. With LFPA funding, God’s Pantry Food Bank is able to pay retail market value to farmers for local ingredients used in pre-made frozen meals distributed through our Mobile Pantry Program. And as a part of the Feeding Kentucky network, LFPA allows the Food Bank to partner with even more Kentucky growers, increasing the distribution of local, fresh food to our network of pantries and meal programs. Our participation in LFPA agreements increases our neighbors’ access to nutrient-dense food, leading to better health outcomes and a more equitable food system in our Commonwealth—it’s helping us move toward a future with a nourished, thriving life for every Kentuckian.
Across the country, we’re overdue for a food system that is more nourishing, sustainable, and just for consumers and producers alike. Because LFPA has increased collaboration between government agencies, food banks, and community partners, we’re fostering a localized, coordinated approach to ending hunger and moving significantly closer to having a stronger food system for everyone.
Funding for this critical program ends in September 2025.That’s why we are calling on Congress to make Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) a permanent program. Please join us in advocating with and on behalf of our farmers and neighbors experiencing food insecurity by contacting your representatives today. Together, we are asking you to contact your representatives and tell them to support legislation that would create a permanent local food purchasing program.
We are so thankful for your advocacy! Because reducing hunger needs your voice.
Please find your representatives here.
