WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-OH, hosted a news conference call Wednesday to announce that the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be investing more than $40 million to establish the Appalachian Regional Food Business Center (RFBC) in partnership with Rural Action Inc., based in The Plains, Ohio. The Appalachian RFBC will help build and strengthen local and regional food systems, enabling more Ohio farmers and producers to sell more of their products in their communities and keep more of their profits in Appalachia, and it will help link Ohio farmers and producers to wholesalers and distributors.
“This is about giving Ohio farmers more tools and support to sell their products, including in their own communities,” Brown said. “This new center will be run by Ohioans, for Ohioans. It’s recognizing that Ohio communities know best what they need. And it’s about opportunity in the all the places that are too often overlooked in Washington and exploited by corporate America.”
Brown was joined on the call by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Debbie Phillips, CEO of Rural Action. Phillips spoke about her experiences promoting sustainable economic development in Appalachian Ohio and the importance of making it easier for Ohio farmers and producers to sell within their communities and local markets.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to transforming our food system to one that offers new market opportunities to small and mid-sized farming operations through a strengthened local and regional food system,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The Regional Food Business Centers, along with investments through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program will create new and expanded local market opportunities which will improve farm income, create good paying jobs and build greater resilience in our overall food system.”
“We are so excited to move forward with this project with USDA. Rural Action and our partners in the Central Appalachian Network (CAN) will work collaboratively to implement the Appalachian Rural Food Business Center,” said Phillips. “This builds on decades of CAN’s experience working in local communities to develop strong regional food systems. USDA’s investment in technical assistance for farms and food businesses is incredibly important, and the ability to provide grants directly to these farms and food businesses will be a game changer.”
Alongside the Central Appalachian Network, Rural Action will use the USDA funding to expand training and technical assistance resources; invest in local farmers, ranchers, and food entrepreneurs; build and expand on markets in the Appalachian region; and coordinate with other Regional Food Business Centers to promote cross-regional support and market development. The Appalachian Regional Food Business Center will serve Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Established in 1991, Rural Action, Inc. works to create sustainable economic and community growth through local decision-making and development. This includes increasing local control over the region’s assets, engaging and informing local communities, building appropriate infrastructure, and forging connections to local and regional markets.
Brown, the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in more than 50 years, has long been a leader for Ohio’s rural communities and a champion of small farms and local and regional food systems. He recently introduced his bipartisan Local Farms and Food Act, which would make it easier for Ohio farmers to sell their products locally, improving and updating Farm Bill programs Brown helped pass, based on feedback from Ohio farmers. The legislation builds on Brown’s Local FARMS Act of 2017 and key provisions Brown secured in the 2018 Farm Bill — including, most notably, the creation of the Local Agriculture Market Program.
Brown will help write the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill and has talked with farmers and other agriculture representatives at roundtables around the state over the last several months as a part of the 2023 Farm Bill planning process.
