U.S. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack announced February 7 that, to date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded over $270 million to build resilience across the middle of the American food supply chain and strengthen local and regional food systems.

Seven states — Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah and West Virginia — will fund projects that expand the capacity for the processing, manufacturing, storage and distribution of food products through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program. This can include dairy, aquaculture, grains, specialty crops and more, but not meat or poultry.

Kentucky was awarded the most money amongst the aforementioned states at $8.6 million with $7 million available in Infrastructure Grants.

“These unprecedented investments into our nation’s supply chain infrastructure will not only benefit consumers by ensuring they have dependable access to fresh and locally produced food, the investments will benefit producers and rural communities by providing more options and creating more, new and better markets for small and mid-size producers,” Vilsack said. “USDA also recognizes that the work through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program is made possible by the strong partnerships we maintain with state agricultural agencies.”

The funding is being awarded through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program which is administered by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS). There is $230 million currently available in Infrastructure Grant funding, Vilsack added.