President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 24 that his administration is authorizing an additional $1 billion to a food distribution program that pairs struggling producers and American families strongly impacted by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program, Farmers to Families Food Box, which first kicked off in May, ensures the delivery of billions of dollars worth of fruit, vegetables, and other farm products that might have gone to waste because of the pandemic, to food banks and nonprofits that serve the needy.
“Today I am proud to announce that we will provide an additional one billion dollars to fund the Farmers to Families Food Box program,” Trump said in North Carolina Monday during a visit to a food packing plant. “Its worked out so well.”
“Through this program, the Department of Agriculture is purchasing food from farmers, then local distributors pack and deliver the boxes. And families in need get it, and they get to eat very well,” the president continued.
“Were tremendously grateful for the 185 employees here at this facility who have packed roughly 7,000 boxes a week,” he said. “With your help, in just 3 months, weve delivered over 1 billion pounds of food, providing more than 100 million meals to Americans most in need.”
The program was formally kicked off on May 15 by White House adviser Ivanka Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. At the time, Perdue said that prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus, Americas food supply chains operated smoothly and were taken for granted.
The program aims to quickly rescue food from struggling farmers and deliver it to those in need as fallout from the pandemic has put millions of Americans out of work and under greater strain.
Its part of the $3 billion Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program announced on April 17, under which the USDA buys from producers and distributes to communities.
According to the USDA website, the department aims to complete the purchase of up to $2.7 billion of food under the aid program by the end of August.
