{"id":27590,"date":"2025-05-06T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=27590"},"modified":"2025-05-06T16:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T20:09:20","slug":"watch-sen-ossoff-presses-agriculture-secretary-on-cancellation-of-fresh-food-program-for-georgia-farms-schools","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/watch-sen-ossoff-presses-agriculture-secretary-on-cancellation-of-fresh-food-program-for-georgia-farms-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Sen. Ossoff Presses Agriculture Secretary on Cancellation of Fresh Food Program for Georgia Farms & Schools\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. <\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff today pressed the Agriculture Secretary after the Trump Administration canceled a program that helps Georgia farmers sell fresh food to local schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on the Trump Administration\u2019s cancellation<\/a> of the Local Foods for Schools Program (LFS) that helps Georgia farmers sell fresh food to local schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his questioning, Sen. Ossoff cited Georgia school districts and farmers who say they rely on the program and pressed Rollins on why the Trump Administration canceled the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Dawson County Schools Director of School Nutrition Scott Richardson told Sen. Ossoff\u2019s office, \u201cOver the past two years, participation in the LFS program has transformed our ability to bring healthy, fresh, and locally grown fruits and vegetables to our students. Prior to LFS, purchasing from local farmers was often cost-prohibitive due to pricing and transportation challenges. The LFS program alleviated those barriers, enabling our department to build direct partnerships with farmers in Dawson, Hall, Fannin, and Warren Counties, among others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Colquitt County School Nutrition Office said<\/a> that \u201cpurchasing local foods significantly enriched our school community by providing fresher, healthier meal options for students,\u201d and Crisp County School Nutrition said<\/a> \u201cThrough the LFS program, we were able to establish reliable and stable local food sources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parrish Akins, who owns a family farm in Nashville, told Sen. Ossoff\u2019s office that the program \u201chas allowed our farming operation to capture some of the profits which in the past would have gone to another member of the supply chain and has allowed us to increase our revenues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning.<\/strong><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Sen. Ossoff\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a $7.1 million partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and State of Georgia through the LFS program to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables for schools across the state, helping Georgia kids access fresh produce grown by Georgia farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff\u2019s remarks and questioning below:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF: \u201c<\/strong>Madam Secretary, are you familiar with the Local Foods for Schools Program?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cSo, here’s a few quotes from my constituents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is from Scott Richardson of the Dawson County School District: \u2018Local Foods for Schools Program has transformed our ability to bring healthy, fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables to our students. Prior to the LFS, purchasing from local farmers was often cost prohibitive.\u2019

\u201cHere’s a quote from Parrish Akins, they own a family farm, he owns a family farm in Nashville, Georgia. Mr. Akins said this program, ‘has allowed our farming operation to capture some of the profits, which in the past would have gone to another member of the supply chain, has allowed us to increase our revenues.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere’s Colquitt County School Nutrition Office, \u2018purchasing local foods has significantly enriched our school community by providing fresher, healthier meal options for students.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere’s Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School Nutrition, ‘we bought some Georgia shrimp from a guy who’s been in the shrimping industry since he was a teenager in Brunswick.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrisp County School Nutrition, ‘through the [Local Food for Schools] Program, \u2018we were able to establish reliable and stable local food sources.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a program, of course, that helps Georgia farmers sell food to Georgia schools. Why did you cancel the program?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cWell, let’s talk about Georgia for a second. The local food…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cI have, I have 50 seconds left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cWell, that’s a big question. You’ve got to give me a little bit more time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cTake your time, but I want to know why you canceled the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cWell, we canceled the program. It was a COVID-era program, first of all. Second of all, the money wasn’t being spent. In the current tranche, your state has $2 million of $7 million left in the account. You’re asking for contract extensions cause you can’t spend the money quickly enough. The food for the FPA, the LPA, we’ve got $10 million of $20 million left. So, you’ve got money in the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cWhy, rather than tailor the program did you cancel it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s not a good use of taxpayer funds when you’ve got taxpayer dollars…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cWell, my constituents believe that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cWell, I would love to talk to your constituents. I wonder if they know that the State of Georgia has not moved that money out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF:<\/strong> \u201cWill you please provide to the committee an economic justification for the outright cancelation of that program?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cAn economic justification for the outright cancelation of the COVID-era program that was due to end. Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF: <\/strong>\u201cOf the Local Food for Schools Program that my constituents enjoy and rely on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS:<\/strong> \u201cYes, we will be happy to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEN. OSSOFF<\/strong>: \u201cThank you, Madam Secretary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC. ROLLINS<\/strong>: \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff today pressed the Agriculture Secretary after the Trump Administration canceled a program that helps Georgia farmers sell fresh food to local schools. Today, in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27590","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/27590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/27590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27596,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/27590\/revisions\/27596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}