USDA Takes Steps to Support Food Sovereignty with the Yakama Nation Tribal Government

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2022 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with the Yakama Nation Tribal Government under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). Through LFPA, the Yakama Nation seeks to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food from underserved producers.

“USDA is excited to partner with Yakama Nation Tribal Government to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy, and nutritious food in underserved communities,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program will improve food and agricultural supply-chain resiliency and increase local food consumption around the country.”

With the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Program cooperative agreement, the Yakama Nation will be able to provide fresh, nutritious produce to about 2,000 families in the Yakama Reservation communities of Wapato, Toppenish, White Swan, Harrah and Mabton.

“At this time, it’s incredibly important to localize food chain distributions. Through COVID, we realized how sensitive the agricultural supply chain is and with the changing climate, it’s more important than ever to the Yakama Nation to be proactive in improving food security for us and local communities. We look forward to utilizing these LFPA grant funds to further our mission.” Virgil Lewis, Chairman of the Yakama Nation Farm Board.

The LFPA program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency. Through this program, USDA will award up to $400 million through non-competitive cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional, and underserved producers through the purchase of food produced within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.

AMS looks forward to continuing to sign agreements under this innovative program that allows state and tribal governments to procure and distribute local and regional foods and beverages that are healthy, nutritious, and unique to their geographic area.

More information about the program is available on AMS’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program webpage.