Like countless schools across the country, the Live Oak Unified School District, about 50 miles north of Sacramento, had to shift their operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Prior to the pandemic, we were realizing my dream serving meals from scratch,” said Leasa Hill, District Food Services Supervisor. “When the pandemic started, we scrambled, worked harder, longer days, we all shifted duties, locations, environments and made it happen.”

Before the pandemic, Leana’s team was making homemade pizzas, slow cooking pork shoulders and developing a host of new menu ideas with a variety of fresh options. When the pandemic lockdown began, they had to quickly shift their menu to more shelf-stable, prepackaged products.

Throughout it all, Leana says her staff worked harder than ever to get tasty, nutritious food to kids in their district that depend on them.

“My staff has not taken any time off since this pandemic started last March,” Hill said. “They served through every holiday and break that they normally have off and even on Saturdays when pick-up service was offered.”

Leasa said that when she started with the District 10 years ago, she was determined to change the way kids thought about “school food” and to create a place where her colleagues were proud to work and where students were excited to eat. Today, despite the unprecedented challenges the pandemic has thrown their way, Leasa and her staff have come through on that commitment. She credits her staff and their passion with that ongoing success as they continue to deliver child nutrition programs where they’re needed most.

WASHINGTON, Mar. 24, 2021 — In January 2021, President Biden released the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. The plan is driven by science, data, and public health to improve the effectiveness of our nation’s fight against COVID-19 and to restore trust, accountability and a sense of common purpose in our response to the pandemic.

The National Strategy provides a roadmap to guide America out of the worst public health crisis in a century. It is organized around seven goals:

1. Restore trust with the American people.
2. Mount a safe, effective, and comprehensive vaccination campaign.
3. Mitigate spread through expanding masking, testing, data, treatments, health care workforce, and clear public health standards.
4. Immediately expand emergency relief and exercise the Defense Production Act.
5. Safely reopen schools, businesses, and travel while protecting workers.
6. Protect those most at risk and advance equity, including across racial, ethnic and rural/urban lines.
7. Restore U.S. leadership globally and build better preparedness for future threats.

The plan calls on all parts of the federal government to contribute its resources—facilities, personnel, and expertise—to contain the pandemic. Chief among the efforts is a whole-of-government response to stand up new federally supported community vaccination centers across the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responding to the President’s call to action. In addition to personnel, USDA is offering its facilities, cold chain infrastructure, public health experts, disaster response specialists, and footprint in rural areas and Tribal communities across the country. Here are the some of the ways USDA is working alongside our federal partners to contain the pandemic and get our economy back on track.

Programmatic Announcements

• Mar. 23: USDA Invests $266 Million to Improve Rural Community Facilities and Essential Services in 16 states and Puerto Rico. USDA Rural Development is investing $266 million to build and improve critical community facilities to benefit nearly 3 million rural residents in 16 states and Puerto Rico. This funding includes $156 million to support health-care-related improvements and emergency response services that will benefit nearly 1 million rural residents in nine states and Puerto Rico both during and after the pandemic.
• Mar. 22: USDA Increases SNAP Benefits Up To $100 Per Household with Funding from American Rescue Plan. USDA announced a 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September 2021, providing an estimated $3.5 billion to households experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic.
• Mar. 17-24: P- EBT school plans were approved for Idaho, the District of Columbia, and Texas. In addition, P-EBT child care plans were approved for the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, and Texas. In total, for the 2020-2021 School Year, USDA has approved $13.9 billion to provide Pandemic EBT benefits to 16.5 million children in 29 states and territories. For a full list of approved states, please see the Food and Nutrition Service website.
• Mar. 16: A P-EBT school plan was approved for Hawaii.
• Mar. 12: The Office of Food Safety, in cooperation with the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) released several COVID-19 resources: The Food Safety COVID Tip Card Series, Food Safety During Alternate Meal Services fact sheet, and Keeping School Meals Safe at Home infographic. These resources are available on the ICN website and on the Food and Nutrition Service website.
• Mar. 12: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is approving a modification of Minnesota’s COVID-19 adjustment, which allows SNAP Outreach partners serve as authorized representatives in order to complete applications over the phone for clients who need assistance. Minnesota has requested to update the list of community partners approved under the adjustment. FNS is approving the modification for March 1-June 30, 2021.
• Mar. 11: As of this week, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has approved 49 states/territories for Federal Emergency Allotments totaling $2,520,231,274 for the month of March 2021. State agencies and territories submit their Emergency Allotments Extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Mar. 10: Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Congressional Passage of the American Rescue Plan Act.
• Mar. 9: USDA Extends Free Meals to Children through Summer 2021 Due to Pandemic. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service announced the nationwide extension of several waivers that allow all children to continue to receive nutritious meals this summer when schools are out of session, through Sept. 30, 2021.
• Mar. 8-13: P-EBT school plans were approved for Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
• Mar. 4: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved 33 states/territories for Federal Emergency Allotments totaling $1,695,651,929 for the month of March 2021. State agencies and territories submit their Emergency Allotments Extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Mar. 1-7: P-EBT school plans were approved for Florida and Virginia. In addition, P-EBT child care plans were approved for Massachusetts and Indiana.
• Mar. 1: A Texas A&M AgriLife-led research project funded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is investigating the SARS-CoV-2 impact on meat processing by assessing the risks in a systematic farm-to-plate model. The goal is to maximize safety and minimize viral exposure to meat production workforce employees, and to everyone who buys and consumes meat. This research is part of NIFA’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Research investments to help find critical solutions to issues facing our nation during the pandemic. More information about how USDA is ensuring meat processing safety during the pandemic is available on NIFA’s website.
• Feb. 25: Food Lion plans to extend SNAP online purchasing to eight additional states—Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia—beginning Feb. 25. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has been working to expand access to online purchasing for SNAP participants. The full list of states and retailers participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot is available on the FNS website.
• Feb. 24: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved five states for SNAP emergency allotments totaling $430,994,867 for the month of March 2021. State and territorial agencies submit their emergency allotment extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval, as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Feb. 23: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released $400 million in additional funding to states to support The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), including $73.3 million in administrative funds and $326.7 million to purchase food through the Agricultural Marketing Service.
• Feb. 23: Education Department Amplifies Expansion of SNAP Benefits to Help Students Pursuing Postsecondary Education During Pandemic. In accordance with President Biden’s January 22nd Executive Order on extending economic relief during the pandemic, USDA worked with the Department of Education to increase awareness of newly expanded SNAP eligibility guidelines for students.
• Feb. 22-28: P-EBT school plans were approved for Washington, Connecticut, Arizona, and Kentucky. In addition, a P-EBT child care plan was approved for Arizona.
• Feb. 18: COVID-19 Update: USDA, FDA Underscore Current Epidemiologic and Scientific Information Indicating No Transmission of COVID-19 Through Food or Food Packaging.
• Feb. 17: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved 47 states and territories for emergency allotments in SNAP, totaling $2,033,734,872 for the month of February 2021. FNS also approved one state for emergency allotments totaling $55,595,754 for the month of March 2021.
• Feb. 17: USDA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Plan
• Feb. 16: Biden Administration Announces Another Foreclosure Moratorium and Mortgage Forbearance Deadline Extension That Will Bring Relief to Rural Residents: USDA extended the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums on USDA Single Family Housing Direct and Guaranteed loans through June 30, 2021 due to an almost unprecedented housing affordability crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Feb. 15-21: A P-EBT school was approved for Delaware.
• Feb. 8- 14: P-EBT school plans were approved for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Feb. 1-7: P-EBT school plans were approved for North Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan, and South Carolina.
• Feb. 1: Biden Administration Halts Residential Evictions in USDA Multifamily Housing Communities in Accordance with CDC Guidance: USDA extended the eviction and foreclosure moratorium to affected multifamily housing residents through March 31, 2021, providing relief to the tens-of-thousands of Americans who rely on USDA-supported multifamily housing communities.
• Jan. 27: USDA Temporarily Suspends Debt Collections, Foreclosures and Other Activities on Farm Loans for Several Thousand Distressed Borrowers Due to Coronavirus: USDA temporarily suspended past-due debt collections, foreclosures, non-judicial foreclosures, debt offsets or wage garnishments, and referring foreclosures to the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Jan. 25-31: Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) school plans were approved for Tennessee and New Mexico.
• Jan. 22: Biden Administration Expands P-EBT to Benefit Millions of Low-Income and Food Insecure Children During Pandemic: USDA is increasing the Pandemic-EBT benefit by approximately 15%, providing more money for low-income families and millions of children missing meals due to school closures.

Personnel Deployments

440 Personnel Currently Deployed; 669 Deployed Since Start of Campaign (Mar. 24, 2021)

• Since the start of the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has deployed 343 personnel. Currently, 226 APHIS personnel remain active, consisting of:
  • 25 employees to support FEMA with planning and logistics (including 7 USDA Office of Homeland Security employees providing virtual support);
  • 105 employees to Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, and Oklahoma to administer vaccinations;
  • 30 employees in Colorado, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin preparing the vaccine for those administering vaccines;
  • 19 intake registrars and 24 floor managers in Oregon;
  • 8 Safety Officers supporting USDA employees throughout these sites;
  • 9 employees in Chicago;
  • 5 employees in Dallas; and
  • 1 employee in Indiana.
• The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) have dispatched 49 veterinarians to assist with vaccination efforts in Nevada, Maryland, Oklahoma, and New York.
• Since the start of the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, the USDA Forest Service has deployed 268 personnel. Currently, the USDA Forest Service has 156 Incident Management Team personnel assigned to the National COVID Vaccine Campaign. Their work includes staffing vaccination centers, providing logistical support, and planning at regional/state levels with FEMA and states.
• Three (3) members of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), one (1) member of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS), one (1) member of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and four (4) U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers detailed to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are assisting with logistical support for the vaccination campaign.

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2021 — Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to allow USDA to withdraw its appeal on the previously vacated final rule, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (84 FR 66782).

“We are pleased to finally put to rest a policy that would have restricted the ability of states to provide nutrition assistance to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) during times of high unemployment. The rule would have penalized individuals who were unable to find consistent income, when many low wage jobs have variable hours, and limited to no sick leave. Groups with typically higher unemployment, including rural Americans, Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and People of Color, and those with less than a high school education would have been disproportionally harmed by this cruel policy.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

Under normal circumstances, adults who are age 18-49, able to work, and do not have dependents are not able to receive SNAP benefits for more than 3 months within a 3 year period unless they are working, enrolled in a work program, or participating in some combination of those two for 80 hours each month. The vacated rule limited states’ ability to request waivers of the time limit to certain restricted conditions. The time limit is currently suspended due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. USDA plans to publish a notice in the Federal Register to confirm its return to long-standing regulations that existed prior to the publishing of this rule.

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today a 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September 2021, providing an estimated $3.5 billion to households experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding is made possible by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which invests federal resources to reduce hunger across the country, strengthen the food supply chain, invest in rural America, and provide long awaited support to underserved, socially disadvantaged communities.

The 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits will provide about $28 more per person, per month, or more than $100 more per month for a household of four, in additional SNAP benefits.

“We cannot sit by and watch food insecurity grow in the United States,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The American Rescue Plan brings help to those hurting the most due to the pandemic. It increases SNAP benefits so households can afford to put food on the table. It invests in working people and small towns and small businesses to get the economy back on track. And it makes the most meaningful investments in generations to reduce poverty.”

Additional facts on nutrition assistance in the American Rescue Plan can be found here.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

WASHINGTON, Mar. 17, 2021 — In January 2021, President Biden released the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. The plan is driven by science, data, and public health to improve the effectiveness of our nation’s fight against COVID-19 and to restore trust, accountability and a sense of common purpose in our response to the pandemic.

The National Strategy provides a roadmap to guide America out of the worst public health crisis in a century. It is organized around seven goals:

1. Restore trust with the American people.
2. Mount a safe, effective, and comprehensive vaccination campaign.
3. Mitigate spread through expanding masking, testing, data, treatments, health care workforce, and clear public health standards.
4. Immediately expand emergency relief and exercise the Defense Production Act.
5. Safely reopen schools, businesses, and travel while protecting workers.
6. Protect those most at risk and advance equity, including across racial, ethnic and rural/urban lines.
7. Restore U.S. leadership globally and build better preparedness for future threats.

The plan calls on all parts of the federal government to contribute its resources—facilities, personnel, and expertise—to contain the pandemic. Chief among the efforts is a whole-of-government response to stand up new federally supported community vaccination centers across the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responding to the President’s call to action. In addition to personnel, USDA is offering its facilities, cold chain infrastructure, public health experts, disaster response specialists, and footprint in rural areas and Tribal communities across the country. Here are the some of the ways USDA is working alongside our federal partners to contain the pandemic and get our economy back on track.

Programmatic Announcements

• Mar. 14-17: A P-EBT school plan was approved for Hawaii. In total, for the 2020-2021 school year, USDA has provided $11.2 billion in P-EBT benefits to 12.7 million children in 26 states and territories. For a full list of approved states, please see the Food and Nutrition Service website.
• Mar. 12: The Office of Food Safety, in cooperation with the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) released several COVID-19 resources: The Food Safety COVID Tip Card Series, Food Safety During Alternate Meal Services fact sheet, and Keeping School Meals Safe at Home infographic. These resources are available on the ICN website and on the Food and Nutrition Service website.
• Mar. 12: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is approving a modification of Minnesota’s COVID-19 adjustment, which allows SNAP Outreach partners serve as authorized representatives in order to complete applications over the phone for clients who need assistance. Minnesota has requested to update the list of community partners approved under the adjustment. FNS is approving the modification for March 1-June 30, 2021.
• Mar. 11: As of this week, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has approved 49 States/Territories for Federal Emergency Allotments totaling $2,520,231,274 for the month of March 2021. State agencies and Territories submit their Emergency Allotments Extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Mar. 10: Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Congressional Passage of the American Rescue Plan Act.
• Mar. 9: USDA Extends Free Meals to Children through Summer 2021 Due to Pandemic. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service announced the nationwide extension of several waivers that allow all children to continue to receive nutritious meals this summer when schools are out of session, through Sept. 30, 2021.
• Mar. 8-13: P-EBT school plans were approved for Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
• Mar. 4: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved 33 States/Territories for Federal Emergency Allotments totaling $1,695,651,929 for the month of March 2021. State agencies and Territories submit their Emergency Allotments Extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Mar. 1-7: P-EBT school plans were approved for Florida and Virginia. In addition, P-EBT child care plans were approved for Massachusetts and Indiana.
• Mar. 1: A Texas A&M AgriLife-led research project funded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is investigating the SARS-CoV-2 impact on meat processing by assessing the risks in a systematic farm-to-plate model. The goal is to maximize safety and minimize viral exposure to meat production workforce employees, and to everyone who buys and consumes meat. This research is part of NIFA’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Research investments to help find critical solutions to issues facing our nation during the pandemic. More information about how USDA is ensuring meat processing safety during the pandemic is available on NIFA’s website.
• Feb. 25: Food Lion plans to extend SNAP online purchasing to eight additional states—Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia—beginning Feb. 25. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has been working to expand access to online purchasing for SNAP participants. The full list of states and retailers participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot is available on the FNS website.
• Feb. 24: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved five states for SNAP emergency allotments totaling $430,994,867 for the month of March 2021. State and territorial agencies submit their emergency allotment extension requests to FNS throughout the month for acknowledgement and approval, as long as they continue to meet their emergency declarations due to the pandemic.
• Feb. 23: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released $400 million in additional funding to states to support The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), including $73.3 million in administrative funds and $326.7 million to purchase food through the Agricultural Marketing Service.
• Feb. 23: Education Department Amplifies Expansion of SNAP Benefits to Help Students Pursuing Postsecondary Education During Pandemic. In accordance with President Biden’s January 22nd Executive Order on extending economic relief during the pandemic, USDA worked with the Department of Education to increase awareness of newly expanded SNAP eligibility guidelines for students.
• Feb. 22-28: P-EBT school plans were approved for Washington, Connecticut, Arizona, and Kentucky. In addition, a P-EBT child care plan was approved for Arizona.
• Feb. 18: COVID-19 Update: USDA, FDA Underscore Current Epidemiologic and Scientific Information Indicating No Transmission of COVID-19 Through Food or Food Packaging.
• Feb. 17: USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service approved 47 states and territories for emergency allotments in SNAP, totaling $2,033,734,872 for the month of February 2021. FNS also approved one state for emergency allotments totaling $55,595,754 for the month of March 2021.
• Feb. 17: USDA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Plan
• Feb. 16: Biden Administration Announces Another Foreclosure Moratorium and Mortgage Forbearance Deadline Extension That Will Bring Relief to Rural Residents: USDA extended the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums on USDA Single Family Housing Direct and Guaranteed loans through June 30, 2021 due to an almost unprecedented housing affordability crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Feb. 15-21: A P-EBT school was approved for Delaware.
• Feb. 8- 14: P-EBT school plans were approved for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Feb. 1-7: P-EBT school plans were approved for North Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan, and South Carolina.
• Feb. 1: Biden Administration Halts Residential Evictions in USDA Multifamily Housing Communities in Accordance with CDC Guidance: USDA extended the eviction and foreclosure moratorium to affected multifamily housing residents through March 31, 2021, providing relief to the tens-of-thousands of Americans who rely on USDA-supported multifamily housing communities.
• Jan. 27: USDA Temporarily Suspends Debt Collections, Foreclosures and Other Activities on Farm Loans for Several Thousand Distressed Borrowers Due to Coronavirus: USDA temporarily suspended past-due debt collections, foreclosures, non-judicial foreclosures, debt offsets or wage garnishments, and referring foreclosures to the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Jan. 25-31: Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) school plans were approved for Tennessee and New Mexico.
• Jan. 22: Biden Administration Expands P-EBT to Benefit Millions of Low-Income and Food Insecure Children During Pandemic: USDA is increasing the Pandemic-EBT benefit by approximately 15%, providing more money for low-income families and millions of children missing meals due to school closures.

Personnel Deployments

445 Personnel Currently Deployed (Mar. 17, 2021)

• Since the start of the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has deployed 311 personnel. Currently, 220 APHIS personnel remain active, consisting of:
  • 34 employees to support FEMA with planning and logistics;
  • 92 employees to Nevada, Oklahoma, Maryland, and Delaware to administer vaccinations;
  • 8 Safety Officers at a variety of rapid points of distribution including mobile teams and pop-up clinics;
  • 1 employee supporting FEMA Region VI with field operations;
  • 11 employees to Dallas;
  • 9 employees to Chicago;
  • 22 employees to Rhode Island and Wisconsin to prepare the vaccine for those administering vaccines; and
  • 19 intake registrars and 24 floor managers in Oregon.
• The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) have dispatched 32 veterinarians to assist with vaccination efforts in Nevada, Maryland, and Oklahoma.
• The USDA Forest Service has deployed 186 Incident Management Team personnel and they are currently assigned to the National COVID Vaccine Campaign. Their work includes staffing vaccination centers, providing logistical support, and planning at regional/state levels with FEMA and states.
• One (1) member of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), one (1) member of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS), one (1) member of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and four (4) U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers detailed to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are assisting with logistical support for the vaccination campaign.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) seeks comments on the development, coordination, and implementation of a food purchase and distribution program intended to provide additional aid to nonprofits serving Americans in need of nutrition assistance.

If implemented, the program will serve as a successor to the temporary food box purchase program created in April 2020 in response to the rapidly developing crisis within the food supply chain and increased joblessness due to COVID-19. While the food box effort served some communities well, it faced challenges in others.

Comments can be submitted through midnight ET on March 31, 2021, via online portal or by email to AMSCOVIDStimulus@usda.gov. We welcome feedback from all interested parties, and we appreciate early response. Additional information is available on the AMS website.

In addition, AMS will host a listening session to provide groups and individuals an opportunity to share their views on how USDA can best serve people in need of food assistance as well as the industry through this program. All interested stakeholders are invited to attend. Stakeholders are also invited to register to provide oral comments during the session.

Listening Session Information:

The listening session will be conducted via webinar using ZOOM.

Date and Time: 

March 22, 2021 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET

Registration: 

Registration will remain open until the start of the event, or until the session is full. However, you must register by midnight ET on March 17, 2021, to provide oral comments during the listening session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Registrants who request to speak will be contacted by a staff member and must participate in a practice session to test audio requirements. Speakers will be introduced by a moderator; and speaking time is no more than three minutes.

AMS will make the agenda for the session available on the website by March 19, 2021.

Contact:

Questions regarding the listening session can be directed to AMSCOVIDStimulus@usda.gov. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication (Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

AMS encourages comments from smaller businesses, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, socially disadvantaged producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities, and/or organizations representing these entities. AMS expects commenters writing or speaking on behalf of these entities to engage and involve them in planning comments.

Background:

Sec. 751 of the COVID Stimulus Package, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, provides no less than $1.5B to purchase food and agricultural products, including seafood, fresh produce, dairy, and meat products, to distribute to individuals in need, including through delivery to nonprofit organizations that can receive, store, and distribute food items, and for grants and loans to small or midsized food processors or distributors, seafood processing facilities and processing vessels, farmers markets, producers, or other organizations to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against COVID–19.