WASHINGTON, April 4, 2022 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announces the “USDA Tribal Consultations on Barriers/Equity: Annual Progress Report & Feedback for Next Steps.” This five-day consultation series follows up on the March 2021 consultations held in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities. Tribal leaders have requested USDA affirm how staff are incorporating tribal input on barriers to effectively accessing programs. From April 11 through 18, USDA consulting officials will highlight progress made since last year’s consultation and discuss potential solutions for ongoing issues with tribal nation representatives.

“For too long, tribal nations and individuals have had barriers to USDA services and programs,” said USDA Office of Tribal Relations Director Heather Dawn Thompson. “In addition to these consultations, we are conducting a top-to-bottom review of our statutory authorities to see where we can empower tribal nations and support tribal self-determination through our programs.”

Since the first consultation on equity and barriers in March 2021, USDA agencies have implemented changes to remove barriers to service for tribal nations. Among the improvements:

• Agriculture Secretary Vilsack has directed USDA to explore opportunities expanding tribal self-determination across USDA programming. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service awarded $3.5 million to eight tribal nations for a project that, for the first time, allows them to purchase some of the foods for their tribe through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).
• Tribal leaders requested USDA better recognize their sovereignty and jurisdictional authority when financing infrastructure projects. USDA’s Rural Development has required tribal resolutions of support for non-tribal applicants intending to serve tribal land and compliance with tribal law for projects within Indian Country under the ReConnect program.
• Tribal leaders called on USDA to better meet tribal treaty obligations. In collaboration with the Department of the Interior and Oklahoma State University, USDA is developing and regularly updating a tribal treaty rights database to better understand and fulfill these obligations.

Each day of the April 11-18 consultations will focus on different themes that are key priority areas for the Biden-Harris Administration. On each day, senior USDA consulting officials from each agency will listen to concerns from official representatives from among the 574 federally recognized tribal nations. Before each consultation, tribal organizations will facilitate caucuses to support tribal leaders in discussing these issues.

Economic Development
Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Caucus
3:00-5:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Consultation

Food, Safety, and Trade
Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Caucus
3:00-5:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Consultation

Farming, Ranching, and Conservation
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Caucus
3:00-5:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Consultation

Forests and Public Lands
Date: Friday, April 15, 2022
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Caucus
3:00-5:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Consultation

Education and Research
Date: Monday, April 18, 2022
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Caucus
3:00-5:00 p.m. ET - Tribal Consultation

On March 10, 2022, the USDA Office of Tribal Relations distributed "Dear Tribal Leader" letters announcing these consultation sessions to Indian Country. These tribal consultations are formal, government-to-government meetings between USDA officials and tribal nations. Tribal organizations, tribal citizens, and tribal nation staff are welcome to attend. Elected tribal leaders, proxy representatives with authority to speak on behalf of a tribal nation, and USDA consulting officials have speaking roles at these events. USDA agencies and offices host consultations throughout the year to hear from tribal nations about how USDA policies and programs can be developed to better support tribal nation interests. For the latest list of consultations across the department, visit www.usda.gov/tribalrelations/tribal-consultations.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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NEW YORK, March 17, 2022 – During a visit to Columbia University and in celebration of National Nutrition Month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a report detailing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Actions on Nutrition Security (PDF, 755 KB). This report highlights USDA’s commitment to advancing nutrition security, and the consistent access to safe, nutritious food that supports optimal health and well-being for all Americans.

Secretary Vilsack will also give a speech today at Teachers College, Columbia University showcasing the USDA’s robust efforts to tackle nutrition insecurity. The address will underscore USDA’s commitment under the Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize bold nutrition security efforts that will help ensure all American children and families have consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe and affordable food. The speech will begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time and be livestreamed on usda.gov/live.

Nutrition security (PDF, 203 KB) builds on the important work USDA and its partners are doing to promote food security by increasing the Department’s focus on diet-related chronic diseases -- a leading cause of death in the U.S. Nutrition Security further emphasizes the importance of tackling long-standing health inequities. Research shows communities of color, families with children, and people in more isolated areas of the country, including Tribal communities, are disproportionally affected by the toll of diet-related chronic diseases.

“The COVID-19 pandemic brought food insecurity to the forefront of the national conversation and shined a new light on the devastating toll of chronic disease, with an estimated two-thirds of COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. related to diet-related diseases,” said Vilsack. “Across the department we recognize that food and health are inherently intertwined, and we’re leaning into our powerful tools to help reduce chronic disease, advance equity and promote overall well-being. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to achieve this vision.”

“USDA and the Biden-Harris administration are committed to leading the way to a healthier future for all Americans, one nutritious meal at a time.”

The plan outlines USDA’s four-pillar strategic approach to leveraging all its assets to move toward nutrition security for all Americans. These strategies include:

• Meaningful Support: Providing nutrition support throughout all stages of life
• Healthy Food: Connecting all Americans with healthy, safe, affordable food sources
• Collaborative Action: Developing, translating and enacting nutrition science through partnership
• Equitable Systems: Prioritizing equity every step of the way

An integral part of all four pillars is USDA’s nutrition assistance programs, which are the most far-reaching tools available to ensure all Americans have access to healthy, affordable food.  

Broadly, Americans suffer from poor nutrition. When compared to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), the average American diet earns a rating of 59 out of 100 points. Poor diet increases risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and more. Beyond impacts on health, this also has negative effects on productivity, health care costs, military readiness and academic achievement.   

USDA is engaged in several efforts to help improve Americans’ diets, including:

• Modernizing WIC to reach more eligible mothers and their children and better meet their nutritional needs through updated food packages that reflect the recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the DGA.
• Building on the success of the school meal programs by issuing transitional nutrition standards while engaging with stakeholders to update the standards in a way that reflects the latest science and works for people on-the-ground.
• Helping SNAP participants make the most of their benefits, which were strengthened by the Thrifty Food Plan re-evaluation to ensure SNAP participants can afford a nutritious, practical diet.
• Focusing on nutrition education efforts across all its nutrition assistance programs – including SNAP-Ed, WIC breastfeeding support and promotion, and MyPlate – and ensuring they meet the needs of the diverse audiences they serve.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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WASHINGTON, April 26, 2022 – The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service today announced that $5 million in competitive grants are being made available to enhance efficiency and access in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through process and technology improvements.

The SNAP Process and Technology Improvement Grants are awarded through a competitive application process. The multi-year grants seek to improve the experience of SNAP participants by enabling grantees to update inefficient or ineffective processes or use technology to streamline operations and provide better customer service. The application process also requires grant applicants to demonstrate how their initiatives will affect SNAP with respect to equity and inclusion, which supports the Administration’s focus on advancing racial equity.

“FNS is deeply committed to improving SNAP so that all Americans can get the healthy food they need,” said Stacy Dean, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services. “By putting the needs of SNAP applicants and recipients at the center of this grant initiative, we can harness changes in processes and technology to drive toward the end goal of making SNAP work for the people who use it to feed themselves and their families.”

Previous grantees have used funding for SNAP improvements such as making mobile applications easier to use, implementing live call centers, or creating automated text messaging notifications to remind households of key actions required to maintain benefits. Once awarded, grantees have three years to spend funds and complete their projects.

For example, the Mississippi Department of Human Services, a 2017 grantee, partnered with the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center to update their mobile applications to better meet the needs of SNAP participants. The enhancements have improved the recertification process by allowing SNAP clients to use their phones and other mobile devices to receive notices, get case status updates, upload verification documents, and check their electronic benefits balance.

This year’s PTIG applicants will be required to address at least one of the following priority areas:

• Increasing the use of technology-based tools to expand enrollment of underserved populations;
• Aiding in the transition from pandemic operations and improving disaster response operations; and/or
• Modernizing SNAP customer service, client communication, and administrative processes to improve accessibility, transparency, and responsiveness.

These grants build on the Administration’s commitment to modernizing programs, reducing administrative burdens, and piloting new online tools and technologies that can provide a simple, seamless, and secure customer experience.

Eligible entities include:

• State and local agencies that administer SNAP;
• State or local governments;
• Agencies providing health or welfare services;
• Public health or educational entities; and
• Private non-profit entities, such as community-based or faith-based organizations, food banks, or other emergency feeding organizations.

The request for applications opens today, and all applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST, June 27, 2022. The three-year grants will be announced in fall 2022. For more information, please visit the FY 2022 SNAP Process and Technology Improvement Grants website. FNS will award bonus points to applications from groups that have not previously received PTIG funding to promote capacity building through technology and process improvements.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) leverages its 15 nutrition assistance programs to ensure that children, low-income individuals, and families have opportunities for a better future through equitable access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food, while building a more resilient food system. Under the leadership of Secretary Tom Vilsack, FNS is fighting to end food and nutrition insecurity for all through programs such as SNAP, school meals, and WIC. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To learn more, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

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WASHINGTON, April 14, 2022 – Today, in support of Executive Order 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support to Underserved Communities, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) made its Equity Action Plan (PDF, 500 KB) publicly available. The plan outlines actions USDA will take to advance programmatic equity to improve access to programs and services for underserved stakeholders and communities.

All too often in the past, USDA programs and services were designed to benefit those with land, experience, money, and education while leaving behind those without means, resources or privilege of one kind or another. Over the course of decades, congressional reports, internal data, civil rights investigations, court actions, and stakeholder testimony have documented this long history of inequity and discrimination.

At the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA took swift actions to analyze data, consider a wide range of diverse stakeholder input, and prioritize activities that are immediately responsive to the urgent needs of those who have historically had difficulty understanding or accessing USDA’s programs and services.

“We are acknowledging USDA’s storied history and charting a new path forward,” said Secretary Vilsack. “Today’s USDA is committed to rooting out systemic racism and advancing justice, equity, and opportunity for all. USDA’s Equity Action Plan serves as an initial roadmap for making sure our programs and services are accessible, especially to historically underserved communities and to those who need them most.”

“To maintain public trust, USDA and its staff must be keenly aware and responsive to the unique needs of historically underserved communities. USDA is a customer-centric organization with a mission-oriented workforce. USDA’s Equity Action Plan and our consistent emphasis on data-informed policy and north star of advancing equity is indicative of a renewed commitment to meaningfully addressing barriers that prevent access to USDA programs and services. Our vision is to live up to the promise of being the People’s Department,” said Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh.

To craft this Equity Action Plan, USDA first assessed and identified key challenges and opportunities through analysis of data and robust stakeholder engagement. Concurrently, USDA convened staff and leaders across USDA components to learn together and evaluate systems, practices, and policies that hinder progress. USDA mission areas and staff offices have identified challenges and opportunities of particular focus. The USDA Equity Action Plan highlights a set of actions USDA will take to advance equity; these particular actions are highlighted in the plan because of their potential high impact for underserved farmers and ranchers, families and children, and rural communities. Below is a summary:

1. Partner with trusted technical assistance providers
2. Reduce barriers to USDA programs and improve support to underserved farmers, ranchers, landowners, and farmworkers
3. Expand equitable access to USDA nutrition assistance programs
4. Increase USDA infrastructure investments that benefit underserved communities
5. Advance equity in federal procurement
6. Uphold federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Indian Tribes
7. Institutionalize an unwavering commitment to and actions towards ensuring civil rights

As USDA makes progress on the goals and actions articulated above, the Department will simultaneously partner with the Equity Commission on their future recommendations. In line with the best practices in the private and nonprofit sectors, USDA is also focused on creating an organization that systematically places diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) (PDF, 452 KB) at the center of how we support USDA’s workforce and performance. Foundational to these efforts is USDA’s commitment to upholding and advancing civil rights and tribal sovereignty. These priorities are reflected in USDA’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan (PDF, 9.6 MB).

For more information, visit www.usda.gov/equity.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

By Emily C. Kelley, Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

“Hello, Mommy!”

These are the first warm, welcoming words moms participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, hear when arriving for an appointment at the Mary's Center (Petworth) WIC Clinic in Northwest D.C. If English isn't mommy's primary language – their team happily helps with Spanish, Amharic, French, or Mandarin translation.

“Our staff is truly focused on our participants' experience,” said Donna Dunston, director of Mary's Center WIC. “They love what they do and some of them were even WIC participants in the past and use those experiences to help our current WIC moms on their journey.”

The WIC program provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education to income eligible, nutritionally at-risk pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to babies and children up to age five. The caring, meaningful support WIC staff provide to families is the heart of the program.

Mary's Center WIC staff recently implemented electronic benefits transfer, also known as eWIC, in Washington, D.C. WIC participants have the ease of using a card for WIC transactions, rather than using paper WIC vouchers. While that may seem like a small improvement, the electronic transaction helps make the shopping experience smooth, especially for moms with babies and children shopping with them.

Mary's Center staff have made many trips to the store with brand new WIC participants to show them how to use their benefits and to make sure the transactions go as expected. That extra level of customer service exemplifies the heart of the WIC program and its meaningful support for moms, babies, and young children.

Since Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary infant formula recall to address health and safety concerns at its Sturgis, Michigan manufacturing plant, the Biden-Harris Administration has been working around the clock to ensure that safe and nutritious infant formula is available to every family that needs it. In light of the recent crisis and new authority provided through the bipartisan Access to Baby Formula Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a series of additional steps it will take to strengthen resiliency in WIC, which covers the cost of infant formula for families with limited means. These actions will ensure that the families who rely on the WIC program have safe and reliable infant formula options even in an emergency. Currently 1.2 million infants receive WIC formula benefits, and more than half of infant formula is purchased by WIC participants.

Specifically, USDA will:

• Help ensure that WIC participants can continue to access formula during times of crisis. USDA will require WIC state agencies to include a provision in future infant formula rebate contracts to include remedies in the event of an infant formula recall, including how an infant formula manufacturer would protect against disruption to program participants in the state.
• Ensure WIC state agencies are prepared for future supply chain disruptions. USDA will work with WIC state agencies to have a disaster plan in place, which would include a plan to distribute infant formula during a supply chain disruption, disaster, or emergency period. In addition, USDA will support WIC state agencies in prioritizing resources and developing a separate plan for the distribution of specialty formula for infants with health conditions. Disaster plan actions might include how WIC agencies will coordinate with health care centers to manage the supply of specialty formula or an integrated plan for WIC retailers to share information about infant formula stock with WIC to support a formula locater.
• Test and launch online shopping for infant formula for WIC participants. WIC participants may not currently use their benefits to purchase infant formula or other food items online. This can make it more challenging for families to find formula if their local stores are not carrying it. USDA will use up to $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to test and launch online shopping in WIC, with planning grants announced last month. USDA will also propose rulemaking to address regulatory barriers to online shopping and to expand the types of stores eligible to participate in the program. Online shopping will give WIC families more options. The Administration proposed to further expand online options in the President’s 2023 Budget.
• Increase transparency and competition in WIC infant formula bids. To procure infant formula rebate contracts, WIC state agencies solicit bids from infant formula manufacturers to provide a rebate for infant formula. To ensure all manufacturers have the information they need to compete for state contracts and to support any new qualified companies in the market, this fall USDA will establish a dedicated webpage for state bid solicitations for infant formula, similar to actions called for by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

This announcement builds on numerous actions the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to address infant formula supply chain disruptions:

• Provided regulatory flexibility to enable safe, nutritious infant formula from overseas to be imported more easily to the U.S. market.
• Launched Operation Fly Formula to get imported formula to store shelves faster.
• Invoked the Defense Production Act to ensure domestic formula manufacturers have the ingredients they need to ramp up production.

These efforts have resulted in millions of additional bottle equivalents of infant formula being made available to American families. Cumulative sales of infant formula are up around 4 percent this year adjusting for projected increases in the number of births.

USDA continues to work closely with the Administration, HHS, and FDA to support families through this challenging time and to bring to a swift end to the infant formula shortage with a particular focus on the WIC program. USDA has:

• Worked with Congress to enact the bipartisan Access to Baby Formula Act, which gives the Secretary of Agriculture more tools and flexibilities for WIC to respond to infant formula supply chain disruptions and emergencies.
• Provided flexibility and temporarily increased the federal investment in the WIC program to ensure that participants can purchase a wider variety of formula with their WIC benefits.

Through these efforts, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has worked to ensure WIC participants and stakeholders have the information they need to keep infants safe and to access formula. Following the Abbott plant closure, the agency immediately provided guidance to WIC state agencies and, within days, offered flexibilities including waivers to help them respond to the impacts of the recall. In the months since, FNS has been providing ongoing assistance and support to help states put those flexibilities to best use and adapt to the rapidly-changing situation, approving nearly 500 waivers.

Since 1989, Congress has required WIC state agencies to operate a cost containment system for infant formula, which states are meeting through a competitive bidding process for formula contracts. Contracts are awarded to the manufacturer offering the highest discount on wholesale prices. This 1989 reform has resulted in billions of annual savings for WIC and allowed the program to provide necessary benefits to serve every eligible infant, child and pregnant, postpartum or breastfeeding women.

This 1989 cost containment reform helped ensure that every WIC-eligible family could access nutritious foods and infant formula they needed, and helped to modestly reduce market-wide concentration. Two companies have dominated the infant formula market since the 1950s, and in 1987, three companies controlled 99 percent of the market—a more concentrated market than today in which four companies control 90 percent of the market. While the current system has allowed the program to serve eligible families in a cost-effective way, today’s reforms are an important step towards building more resilience into the system, to protect the health and safety of American infants.

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