Dallas, Texas, August 18, 2023 – U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, where she toured organizations critical to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) commitment to transforming our food system through a strengthened local and regional food system and highlighted the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act and investments made by Biden-Harris Administration to increase the availability of locally grown products, build clean energy infrastructure in rural America and create more, new and better markets for producers.
“USDA plays a fundamental role in each American community, including urban neighborhoods,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. “Urban gardens provide fresh fruits and vegetables, school meals provide the nutrition children need to help them reach their potential, and community food banks support their neighbors during times of need. Through President Biden's Investing in America agenda, USDA is investing in our communities to grow local economies, build a stronger and more resilient food system, and create new market opportunities for small and mid-sized producers to connect consumers with healthy foods made close to home."
On Thursday, August 17, Deputy Secretary Torres Small joined Representative Marc Veasey (TX-33) at the Community Food Bank and Southside Community Garden, both of which increase food and nutrition security for families in the Fort Worth area. On Friday, August 18, the Deputy and Representative Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) held a roundtable discussion with producers and community leaders on renewable energy, including the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in clean energy made in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, Deputy Secretary Torres Small toured GROW North Texas at Owenwood Farm, which supports Dallas’ local and regional food system, creates economic opportunity, and provides equitable access to healthy, nutritious food in their community. The Deputy Secretary also visited Dallas’s new USDA Urban Service Center, which, along with 16 other new urban service centers, provides critical support for producers operating agricultural businesses in urban areas.
Examples of USDA programs at work for Texas producers and communities include:
- The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides loans and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. From 2018 to 2022, farmers, ranchers, and small business owners in Texas received $16,194,113 in REAP funding. Since December 2022, USDA has made $1.3 billion available in new funding under REAP through the Inflation Reduction Act and continues to accept applications.
- In September 2022, USDA launched its historic Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity to expand markets for America’s climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. USDA has announced $3.1 billion for 141 projects, including 17 that involve Texas producers. For example, a project operated by the University of Texas Rio Grande operates and participates in projects seeking to expand markets for underserved producers of climate smart beef, vegetables, wheat, corn, rice, and orchard crops.
- The Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) is a bundle of funding opportunities that support the development, coordination, and expansion of the direct producer-to-consumer relationship through marketing, local and regional food markets, and value-added agricultural products. For example, USDA awarded $157,000 from the Farmers Market Promotion Program to the County of Dallas in 2021 for the South Oak Cliff Dallas Farmers Market Project. Spearheaded by Dallas County Health and Human Services in partnership with GROW North Texas and other organizations, the project established a farmers market in South Dallas to provide economic opportunity for underserved local farmers and improve access to nutritious food for the community. From 2021 to 2022, USDA has awarded more than $3.6 million for projects in Texas.
- Through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA), USDA awarded more than $72 million to the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to provide support to small and underserved producers and increase the number of products distributed to underserved communities in the state. LFPA’s goal is to increase supply chain resiliency through support to local, regional, and underserved producers. USDA also awarded Texas more than $22 million through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS).
- USDA announced twelve new Regional Food Business Centers that will provide national coverage coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building to help farmers, ranchers, and other food businesses access new markets and navigate federal, state, and local resources, thereby closing the gaps to success. Texas is served by the Rio Grande Colonias Regional Food Business Center, operated by Texas A&M University AgriLife.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean-energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.