Grant recipients have been announced as part of an effort to support the U.S. food system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping to cover certain pandemic-related health and safety costs for farmworkers, meatpacking workers, and grocery store workers. A total of $670 million is being distributed through the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program (FFWR). Fifteen organizations have been selected to disperse the grant funding to essential workers.
“USDA is committed not only to acknowledging the work of our nation’s essential agricultural and food workers, but also ensuring they are not left out of opportunities for relief from the effects of the pandemic,” Secretary Vilsack said in a press release. “The grant recipients being announced today will help us provide relief payments to workers across the country who kept food moving to our families during an especially challenging time.”
Administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the program is made possible through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. FFWR grant recipients will be making $600 payments to farmworkers and meatpacking workers to offset costs for necessary expenses incurred due to COVID-19. The organizations that were awarded grant funding have experience working with essential worker’s groups and other worker-serving organizations. Award recipients are making preparations now and USDA anticipates that eligible workers will be able to apply for support as early as November.
The beneficiaries that will be serving farmworkers include the National Center for Farmworker Health, La Cooperativa Campesina de California, and National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association. Grant recipients that will be assisting both meatpacking workers and farmworkers include Catholic Charities USA, United Ways of California, and Hispanic Federation, Inc. Assistance provided through the organizations will cover costs for things such as personal protective equipment (PPE), dependent care, and expenses associated with quarantines. Farm and food workers interested in relief payments can visit the AMS FFWR webpage.
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