Farmers to Families food box program solicitation now available

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) released its solicitation for proposals for the Farmers to Families food box program to purchase and distribute $100 million a month of fresh fruit and vegetables for approximately six months. USDA will award contracts to entities that can procure, package, and deliver fresh produce boxes to identified food banks, food pantries, churches, schools, community groups, and other non-profit and governmental organizations. 

Tomorrow: Webinar Notice
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will host a webinar on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, at 2 p.m. EDT, for farmers (growers), shippers and other suppliers interested in learning more about the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. This webinar is an opportunity for these parties to learn how to supply produce, dairy and meat products to vendors supplying food boxes to non-profits and other entities feeding hungry Americans. Interested participants should register for the webinar. Recordings of USDA’s previous webinars and calls can be found here.

United Fresh Farmers to Families Webpage
Please visit United Fresh’s new Farmers to Families webpage for a host of information about this program, including:

• Link to RFP and important dates
• FAQs
• Links to previous webinars
• Additional Resources

*New* Feeding America Resource Document
USDA’s RFP encourages collaboration with nonprofits including food banks, food pantries, schools, churches, and other 501c3 organizations. Feeding America is one of the network of food banks that can be included in the proposal.

Please find a guidance document on working with Feeding America and their direct website for parties interested in distributing to their food banks