EXCLUSIVE: Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Revive Regional Food Programs

The bill, shared exclusively with Civil Eats ahead of its introduction, is co-sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee; Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi); and Jim Justice (R-Virginia). The group will move to attach the legislation to the Senate’s version of a 2026 farm bill, which is expected to drop this month.

“Our family farmers need more opportunities in today’s global agricultural markets,” Schiff said in a press release. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation alongside Senators Hyde-Smith, Klobuchar, and Justice to strengthen our food supply chains and create new markets for small and mid-sized producers, expanding opportunities so that farmers have a means of selling their products to more places and consumers have more options.”

The bill attempts to revive and rebuild some of the regional food system work the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the Biden administration prioritized following the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the fragility of international supply chains. Since President Donald Trump took office, his USDA has cancelled and defunded many of those efforts.

If passed, the bill would direct the USDA to bring back the Regional Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program, a temporary effort created with a one-time $400 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act. It would make RFSI permanent, with $200 million in annual funding.

It would also create a Regional Food Systems Hub Program at the USDA, with $75 million in annual funding. That program is nearly identical to the former Regional Food Business Centers program, which was created by former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and was cancelled last year by current Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. It authorizes 10 hubs around the country, which would coordinate local food efforts and give out small grants to farms and food businesses in their regions.

The American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act is endorsed by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), American Farmland Trust, and the National Farmers Union (NFU).