USDA’s $46 Mil Food Insecurity Project for Underserved Helps “Queer & Trans,” Migrants, BIPOC

In addition to spending a record $112.8 billion on food stamps for the needy the Biden administration is dispensing another $46 million to tackle nutrition insecurity in underserved communities and a chunk of the money will go to strengthen the food system for “Queer & Trans (QT) and Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC),” provide illegal immigrants from Latin America with “culturally responsible fresh food” and the black immigrant community with a special “African food access” project. The money will be disbursed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that operates the nation’s fraud-infested food stamp program. “Through these investments, the Biden Harris Administration is investing in healthy food options for people no matter where they live and supporting stronger local and regional food systems,” according to USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, a former New Mexico congresswoman.

Twenty projects throughout the country—including in North Dakota, California, New York, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, Indiana and Massachusetts—will receive taxpayer money to help curb food and nutrition insecurity in underserved communities. The QT and BIPOC project, stationed in New York, will get $361,872 to build a more resilient and equitable food system for that demographic that also prioritizes opportunities for low-income QT BIPOC. The project “ultimately seeks to build a community-based alternative that addresses racism, health disparities, food insecurity, and poverty,” according to the USDA grant announcement issued a few days ago. This will be accomplished by creating a more dignified experience to accessing nutritious, culturally relevant foods and strengthening the ecosystem of QT BIPOC farmers in New York City as well as the Hudson Valley. Among the government’s expected results is community empowerment and the strengthening of a vibrant network of QT BIPOC stakeholders across different sectors of the food system. Beneficiaries of this publicly funded endeavor include QT and BIPOC in the Hudson Valley and New York City, with a focus on the Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs. The USDA explains that “QT includes multitudes of identities – lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, intersex, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, two-spirit, and more.”

A community project catering to illegal immigrants is getting $374,420 to bring “culturally responsible fresh food and support services” to migrants in the New York area. “Almost 20,000 migrant and asylum-seeking students started at New York Public Schools in the 2023-24 academic year,” the USDA reveals. “Many of their families have unstable housing and employment, which subsequently increases food insecurity.” The money will fund programs at 10 public elementary schools across the Bronx and Queens school districts that aim to “reduce the language, informational, and financial barriers that migrant and asylum-seeking families face in accessing healthy food.” Dozens of nutrition education events will be hosted to share multilingual information about healthy eating and local resources in the school neighborhoods and a community needs assessment will be conducted to help create a special program for migrant and asylum-seeking adults. The goal, according to the USDA, is to “meet the immediate food needs of low-income migrant and asylum-seeking families while helping them build their knowledge and language capacity to navigate their new food system.”

Black migrants will get $314,407 for their own program in Maryland under the multi-million-dollar initiative to combat nutrition insecurity in underserved communities. It is called the African Food Access Project and will fund “community-centric food system within the Essex/Middle River region, particularly serving low-income, immigrant populations.” This will be done through the promotion of regenerative agriculture, the establishment of a communal kitchen and cultural food hub and other services targeting the social determinants of health. The African Food Access Project “employs a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to address food insecurity, health disparities, and economic challenges faced by the Black immigrant community in Essex/Middle River, Baltimore County,” the USDA writes in its grant announcement.

A “black-led, community-rooted nonprofit” in San Diego, California will receive $386,000 to lead an intergenerational project that addresses food and nutrition insecurity where redlining and structural racist policies and practices have resulted in inequitable access to healthy foods. A Chicago-based group that claims to empower residents to achieve equitable livelihood is also getting $386,000 to support bilingual local food ecosystems for low-income and illegal immigrant populations. A separate Chicago project is receiving $238,659 to conduct outreach programs that engage diverse groups, including formerly incarcerated individuals and LGBTQAI+. The complete list of projects with detailed descriptions can be viewed here.

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