The government would offer $7.5 billion in grants, loans, and loan guarantees to build storage capacity at food banks, send surplus food to hungry people, and help small and medium-size food processors expand production under a bill filed by Senate Democrats on Wednesday. Sponsors are Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and all nine Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“The Covid-19 crisis has tested the strength of our nation’s food supply chain, creating a ripple effect that’s harming our families, farmers, and workers,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee. “This bill will help strengthen our food supply by redirecting food to families and helping farmers and processors retool their operations.”
If enacted, $5.5 billion would be available to help smaller processors upgrade equipment, launch new products, expand facilities, and buy test kits and protective equipment for employees. “Food purchase partnerships” would provide an additional $1 billion to purchase unwanted food for donation to organizations that operate an emergency feeding or food relief program.
In addition, $500 million would be available to reimburse, at 10 cents a pound, the cost of storing and distributing perishable foods by food banks and other organizations that provide free food or meals. Another $500 million would be put into grants for infrastructure, equipment, and supplies “that support the distribution of surplus perishable food or meals prepared with that food.”