Gabrielle Russon
What happens to all the dairy farmers when students are out of school for the Summer and not guzzling milk cartons?
State leaders say a new state program has found the solution by connecting farmers and ranchers dealing with surpluses in the slow season to families struggling to make ends meet.
“This program puts those pieces together.” Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said. “We could not do this without the Legislature.”
Simpson, Senate President Ben Albritton and Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur held a joint press conference Thursday to highlight the state’s $38 million investment with the Farmers Feeding Florida initiative that began July 1.
Farmers Feeding Florida expands Florida food bank infrastructure so that fresh produce, meat and other products from the Sunshine State can end up in food banks and help feed hungry people, they said.
Within the past month, about 170,000 gallons of milk — or about 2.7 million cartons — ended up going to needy families, Simpson said.
Albritton called the program a “hand up, not a handout.”
“We’re setting a precedent here, folks,” Albritton said. “We’re setting a precedent that food insecurity is not imaginary. It’s real. It’s real, and most importantly, we can do something about it.”
Brodeur, the Chair of the Agriculture Appropriations Committee, said the project had been in the works for years.
Breaking down the state’s investment, $10 million is allocated toward transportation and new sites for infrastructure running the program, while the other $28 million is direct assistance to the farmers, he said.
Robin Safley, the CEO of Feeding Florida, said the project will allow her to expand her program working with nine member food banks that covers all 67 counties.
Feeding Florida, which focuses on fresh produce, uses the state funding to cover the pick and pack costs on behalf of the growers, she said.
“That also allows us to get product really, really soon,” she said. “So we’ve become part of the supply chain.”
