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Ulster County Executive Mike Hein was joined by government officials, local farmers and growers, food distributors, craft food and beverage producers, and representatives from the agri-business sector to support and recognize the growing food and beverage cluster in Ulster County and to announce new financing opportunities.

For years, school leaders and community activists have been working to improve the food purchased with public dollars. Now advocates have a new tool to help achieve just such a lofty goal: It's called the Good Food Purchasing Policy and after its successful passage in 2012 by the Los Angeles Unified School District and the city of LA, school districts and cities across the country are exploring its possibilities for shaping how public food, like school lunch, is procured.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced 18 grants totaling more than $6.7 million for research to discover how components of the agroecosystem, from soil, water, and sun to plants, animals, and people, interact with and affect food production. These awards are made through NIFA's Bioenergy and Natural Resources Program, Agroecosystem priority area of the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI).  

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Lillian Salerno today announced three new public-private partnerships that will create economic opportunities in Elgin, Texas; Fresno, Calif.; and Chicago. The Food LINC partnerships will help community leaders and private philanthropic partners develop regional food supply chains that drive job growth and increase farm income while helping to meet consumer demand for regionally produced food.

The $380K in Catalytic Investment Award's were provided by the Michigan Good Food Fund. These awards were designed to catalyze high-impact projects with the goal to grow their capacity to successfully secure financing within the next 12 months.

This Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report documents some of the innovative ways that local leaders are combating a broken food system. UCS highlights five urban communities that demonstrate the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of policy makers and community leaders who are implementing programs that help residents grow and sell healthy food, train the next generation of farmers, and bring healthy food to places where people gather.

HFFI provides one-time grants and loans to projects like grocery stores, farmers markets, food hubs, co-ops and other food access businesses in urban or rural areas of need, many of whom face barriers in accessing traditional loans and resources. HFFI's P3 model has leveraged an estimated $1 billion in additional grants, loans, and federal tax incentives, including investments from financial, healthcare, and philanthropic institutions.

In 2011-2012, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council developed the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), an innovative local food procurement policy aimed at building markets for good food to create an equitable food system for all of Los Angeles.

In an effort to support the surrounding community and economy in both the development and implementation of the ReFresh Project, the City of New Orleans provided recruiting, hiring, and training services to ensure a robust local workforce. These efforts helped over 250 residents with job applications and resulted in new jobs for over 175 employees, more than 80 percent of whom are New Orleans residents.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently announced the availability of $17.6 million for research and outreach activities to support the organic agriculture sector. The grants are funded through NIFA's Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, authorized by the 2014 farm bill.

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