In an April 21 press release, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Department of Ag is seeking comments on an effort to improve and reimagine the supply chains for the production, processing and distribution of agricultural commodities and food products.
The action is in response to Executive Order 14017, America’s Supply Chains, signed by President Biden on Feb. 24, with the request for comments has been published in the Federal Register. Comment period will close on May 21.
According to the release, “The comments received will help USDA assess the critical factors, risks, and strategies needed to support resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains and ensure U.S. economic prosperity, national security, and nutrition security for all Americans.” It added that the supply chains are needed to “address conditions that can reduce critical processing and infrastructure capacity and the availability and integrity of critical goods, products, and services.”
The release also said that identifying food system supply chain “bottlenecks and vulnerabilities also may provide valuable insights into the competitive and fair markets landscape, effects on local and regional producers and processors, and equitable access to food and economic opportunity across diverse communities.”
The comments will be used to “prepare a report required by Executive Order 14017.”
Secretary Vilsack commented, “We have an opportunity to take the lessons we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and apply those to transforming our nation’s food system from the inside out, including our supply chains. USDA plans to tackle this supply chain assessment holistically – looking across a full range of risks and opportunities. From elevating the importance of local and regional food systems, to addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged and small to mid-size producers, to supporting sustainable practices to advance resilience and competitiveness, this top to bottom assessment will position USDA to make long-term, transformative changes for economic, national, and nutritional security.”
USDA is also interested in comments “about how to target pandemic-related stimulus relief programs and spending authorized by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) toward long term, systemic change that results in food supply chain resiliency.”
Specifically, the request for comment seeks input on “bolstering local and regional food systems, developing new market opportunities (including for value-added agriculture and products), creating fairer and more competitive markets, meeting the needs of the agricultural workforce, supporting and promoting consumers’ nutrition security, particularly for low-income populations, addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged and small to mid-sized producers, and advancing efforts in other ways to transform the food system.”
The deadline for comments is May 21, 2021. More information about how to submit comments in is available in the Notice.
To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
