Biden-Harris Administration Investing $9.6m in Projects to Diversify Meat Supply and Strengthen Resilience of Food Supply Chain

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Published January 06, 2023

Biden-Harris Administration Investing $9.6m in Projects to Diversify Meat Supply and Strengthen Resilience of Food Supply Chain

Washington D.C. – The Biden-Harris Administration is investing $9.6m in various projects across the US to diversify the nation’s meat supply and strengthen the resilience of the country’s food supply chain. The investment includes 25 additional funds to boost the capacity of independent meat processors, as well as 23 Value-Added Producer Grant program funds totaling $3.9m. The USDA is also guaranteeing $5.7m in loans to two companies through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program.

On January 5, 2023, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $9.6 million around the country and doing various additional actions to help farmers, ranchers, processors, and rural businesses diversify the nation’s meat supply.

“USDA is putting the needs of farmers, ranchers and consumers at the forefront of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to strengthen the resiliency of America’s food supply chain while promoting competition,” Vilsack said. “USDA has undertaken a Department-wide approach to coordinate ways to deliver more opportunities and fairer prices for producers, to give people access to healthier foods, eliminate bottlenecks in the food supply chain and ultimately lower prices for consumers.”

Secretary Vilsack announced 25 additional investments to boost the capacity of independent meat processors.

To assist producer-owned businesses in processing and marketing novel products, the Department is granting 23 Value Added Producer Grant program funds totalling $3.9 million. USDA is also guaranteeing $5.7 million in loans to two companies through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program, which is funded by the American Rescue Plan. This program encourages new infrastructure investments in food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesale, and distribution.

The USDA is funding 25 projects in multiple states through these two programs.