Part of the government’s COVID-19 response program is the USDA’s Farmers to Family Food Box program, which is helping both farmers and families during the pandemic.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced the program, which will deliver up to $16 billion in direct payments to bring relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus.

At the announcement of the program, President Trump said, “But as you know, the virus has forced many of our nation’s restaurants to temporarily close. And this has taken a major toll on our farmers and growers, some of whom were dealing directly with restaurants.”

Here’s how the program works. Farmers will sell food previously destined for restaurants and bulk purchasers to distributors, preventing waste. The distributors partner with USDA to package family-sized boxes with fresh produce, dairy and meat products, then transport them too non-profits across America. Lastly, families pick up food boxes from local schools, food banks, faith-based organizations and other non-profits.

Eligible distributors are 501(c) tax exempt status or government entities (e.g. school food authority, Indian tribe) who can demonstrate they have the operational and financial capability to receive, store and distribute food items.

There will also be food safety and oversight and distributors must comply with regular commercial, Federal and local food safety guidelines. The USDA will continue to make purchases for existing programs and trade mitigation efforts.

Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain, said, “In these challenging times, we have refocused attention on the critical importance of food and fiber. The work never stops for our agricultural producers, yet many face financial hardships as restaurants closed and food we would normally export across the world, was ground to a halt.”

He added, “Any time we can help our ag producers, who are the backbone of our economy, we show our appreciation for their hard work and resilience. It is imperative that we assist them so they can continue provide us with the safest and most affordable food in the world.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable our whole food distribution system can be to disruption. The Farmers to Family Food Box program helps show we can overcome such disruptions.