The USDA said Thursday it would buy $159.4 million worth of U.S.-produced seafood, nuts, fruits, and vegetables for its public nutrition programs, including donations to charity. The deal, funded by customs duties, includes the agency’s single largest purchase of seafood ever, worth $70.9 million, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday.
“These healthy, nutritious food purchases will benefit food banks and nonprofits, helping those struggling with food hardship as the Biden administration works to get the economy back on track for American families,” said Vilsack. Deliveries were expected to begin in mid-August. Funding for the purchases was funneled through the USDA’s so-called Section 32 authority to support U.S. producers through the purchase of foods.
The seafood purchases will include Alaska pollock, Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic wild-caught shrimp, Pacific pink shrimp, Pacific rockfish fillets, Pacific whiting fillets, and sockeye salmon. The USDA will also purchase apricots, chickpeas, dry peas, lentils, Navy beans, pistachios, and peaches.
Also on Thursday, the USDA said farm-raised food fish and other aquatic species raised for human consumption were now eligible for assistance under a livestock disaster program. The revision was a response to “catastrophic aquaculture loses due to major winter storms that hit states along the U.S. Gulf Coast in February,” said the USDA.