Spring Virtual Member Meeting
- SCFPC
- May 25
- 7 min read
On Thursday, May 15, the SCFSN held its first virtual member meeting of the year: “Federal funding and South Carolina’s food system: where do we go from here?”
Introduction
Recent federal funding programs designed to support local food systems, such as the popular Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program, have provided a boost for growers, distributors, and consumers of local food in South Carolina. However, recent and sudden cancellations of some of these funding programs have caused disruptions in the local food supply chain. A talented and knowledgeable panel of South Carolina food systems experts joined us for our most recent Virtual Member meeting to share their perspectives on these programs, their cancellations, and where we stand now. Their insights helped shine a light on the benefits of funding for local food, the problems that result from funding cuts, and an optimistic way forward for our local food system in South Carolina.
Questions addressed were:
What are the benefits of federal funding for local food?
How are producers and distributors adjusting to funding cancellations?
How can South Carolina step up to support our local food system outside of federal assistance?
Read on for a summary of the meeting, and view the full recording of the meeting here:
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We would love your input on the question we posed to our general membership:
How can SC step up to support our local food system outside of federal assistance?
Provide your answer by clicking the button below:
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Meeting Summary
Panelists
Benton Montgomery, Grow Food Carolina
Bonita Clemons, Dianne’s Call; Bonita Global, LLC
Darius Pickett, Pick 42 Foundation
Erin Bradley, Freshlist
Kyle Player, SC Department of Agriculture
Kevin Summers, Summers Wellness Farm
Matt Kneece, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
Weatherly Thomas, Clemson Extension
Introduction - overview of federally funded programs supporting SC’s local food system
Kyle Player and Weatherly Thomas shared status updates on various federal funding programs supporting local food systems in South Carolina, including Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA), Local Food for Schools (LFS), Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI), Climate Smart Grown in SC, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Notes about the status of each of those programs can be found at this link here.
Matt Kneece shared updates on what is happening in Washington, DC, including that RFSI will continue but LFPA and LFS have been canceled. It continues to be difficult to get clear answers from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), since they have reduced the department’s workforce by 12,000 employees and counting. The focus is now shifting to Congress as they work through budget reconciliation, where the House Committee on Agriculture has been asked to cut a minimum of $230 billion from their budget. The cuts will most likely come from nutrition programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). There has been bi-partisan dialogue about reviving a version of LFPA, which aligns with the current administration’s priorities.
What are the Benefits of Federal Funding for Local Food in South Carolina?
“There was zero food left in the field”.
“As an aggregator, it allowed me to meet so many new farmers that I didn’t know existed.”
Bonita Clemons shared that LFPA offered a built-in market for producers with whom she worked, so that no food was wasted. It also created many connections with growers throughout the state, and those relationships can be sustained to benefit the food system over time.
“It was a runway for grower education and prepared them for what it takes to compete in the wholesale market.”
Benton Montgomery shared that LFPA allowed growers to access new markets. Produce that was not suited for the restaurant market, but still very nutritious, was distributed to consumers through various food access partners. This also gave the distributor an opportunity to educate the grower on how to grow competitive products for the restaurant market.
“LFPA funding allowed us to purchase product that we were able to send twice a month to Pamplico, South Carolina to supply them with fruits and vegetables after they had their long term grocery store leave.”
“LFPA was wonderful for us to be able to show our community what local food looks like, what the farmers look like, and where to go to find that local food.”
Darius Pickett emphasized how funding for local food helped Pick 42 Foundation fill the void when a grocery store closed in the town of Pamplico. The resources from LFPA also helped community members make connections directly with local growers, so they can find those resources when they need them.
“It felt good for someone to call us and say I have a problem and for us to say ‘I have a solution for that, I can buy that today’. Whether it was a little bit of product or a whole lot of product.”
Erin Bradley shared that LFPA provided local distributors with multiple options for marketing local produce, so that growers could rely on selling their product when it was ready.
How are producers and distributors adjusting to funding cancellations?
“Without that, we are still moving, but it’s tough. You can grow it but it could be sitting out in the field. Because sometimes, it’s not worth picking it because of the labor costs and material costs, and you can’t sell it in a built in marketplace at a built in price. The built-in market gave you basic pricing. LFPA allowed us to at least sell at a higher price that allows us to break even”.
Kevin Summers shared that LFPA, Climate Smart and RFSI, allowed him to revive his 7th generation family farm with basic pricing that allowed them to at least break even, and infrastructure that allowed them to get products to different markets. And he reiterated the fact that if there is not a market to support local food sales, the product can go to waste in the field.
“It hurts a lot of the staple products that [our farmers] grow really well…cabbages, yellow squashes that don’t have the demand from restaurant customers, but have a lot of nutritional value. Seeing that come to an end forces us into a little more strategic thinking when we do our crop planning with our growers.”
Benton Montgomery shared that as a food hub, it hurts to see farmers grow fewer crops that are nutritious, but can’t be sold to a restaurant. They are helping growers to adjust crop plans with the shifting market. They are also adjusting by using philanthropic donations to purchase products from growers at a fair price and donate to their community access partners.
“We still have people coming to ask for fresh produce, and it really hurts to say no. But we’ve switched to figure out how to continue the education if we don’t have the produce or the staff to help with these initiatives.
Darius Pickett
“We had crop plans that were done in October and November of last year, because we were going to have that money. We have had a lot of farmers over the past few weeks with food that was planned to go into these market channels that we no longer have a home for.”
Erin Bradley talked about the cost of sudden cancellations for farmers who had planned on a market for their crops, but when the funding was cancelled, that food had nowhere to go.
“Nobody really knows what’s going on in USDA because there are so many fewer people there than there were 6 months ago to be able to tell us. We are trying to do everything so that we can make sure that if there is a plan for LFPA to continue that it supports small-scale agriculture, which is what we all want to see here.”
Erin further shared that if funding for local food is going to be revived, our network needs to communicate the benefits of funding for small-scale agriculture, not just larger growers.
How can SC step up to support our local food system outside of federal assistance?
“We can run both programs at the same time.”
Matt Kneece recommended advocating for continued funding at the federal level, while also pushing the state government in South Carolina to fund local food systems. There is a precedent in North Carolina, which provides $8 million over two years for local food, called the “Farm Share Program”, which we could use as a model. Matt invited others to join him in creating a group to explore how the state can step in after the federal funding has stopped.
“One of the things I’m doing is working more closely with Food Share.”
Bonita Clemons shared that Food Share is working in every county to distribute produce, and she figuring out how to use this existing infrastructure, which has the capacity to take smaller quantities of food, to distribute local produce.
“I am advocating with more legislators.”
Bonita has stepped up her efforts to communicate more with legislators, as there is money in the state budget, it just needs to find its way to the right places.
“These [programs] were creating jobs in the local community, and some farmers, including myself, are in low-income areas.”
Kevin Summers emphasized the fact that the federal funding programs not only helped support the food system, but they helped create jobs in areas that need them.
“Don’t let the relationships we have built between growers and aggregators, go away.”
Kevin also urged us to continue strengthening the connections between producers and distributors, which were established with the help of federal funds. Even if the market for local produce is smaller or the price is lower than it was without funding support, maintaining these connections is vital, so that if and when other funding opportunities arise, our local food system can capitalize on them.
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