USDA Approves Up To $1 Billion in Contracts for Food Box Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced yesterday the approval of up to $1 billion in contracts for Round 3 of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

The list of Round 3 approved contractors can be found here:

In Round 3, USDA has said it plans to work with contractors to deliver food boxes to each county in the United States through October 2020. USDA has voiced its preference for combination in Round 3; however, individual commodity boxes including dairy boxes are still allowed in the third round.

IDFA has worked closely with USDA to ensure dairy remains a key part of the Farmers to Families Food Box program so that dairy companies can deliver nutritious dairy products to food insecure Americans via non-profits, food banks, and faith and community organizations. To date, USDA has purchased more than $400 million in dairy products since mid-May, including fresh fluid milk, various cheeses, yogurt, sour cream and more. IDFA engaged directly with USDA during Round 2 of the program to make changes to the program, including expanding the requested products to include hard, semi-firm or semi-soft cheeses.

You can learn more about this program by visiting: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box.