FoodPrint Features Wallace Research on USDA Food Box Program

The local food sector learned some valuable lessons from the pandemic. One such lesson came from USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which provided a huge boost to small and local farmers and directed lots of healthy fresh food to people in need. Over the course of 2020, the Wallace Center at Winrock International provided targeted technical assistance to locally-focused Farmers to Families contractors and then researched the impacts, benefits and pitfalls of this program. Through that process, Wallace realized that local food supply chains and community-based organizations that provide food to their neighbors are particularly well suited to excel in this system.

The Wallace Center published a detailed report about its research on the program, and then spoke with FoodPrint about its findings and the potential benefits associated with USDA buying more locally grown food to support insecure families.