WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, at Georgetown University, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
announced a framework “to transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers, and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.”
USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward participated in the event and was able to ask the Secretary, “Given the market shifts due to the pandemic, sky-rocketing input costs, and the war in Ukraine, domestic agricultural infrastructure has been challenged. How can USDA help to secure and protect vital U.S. agricultural production and processors to maintain our food security domestically and remain viable suppliers on the global market?”
In his response, Secretary Vilsack addressed supply chain challenges that occurred when economies re-opened after the lifting of pandemic restrictions and the subsequent rapid increase in demand created pressure and congestion in the system. He also acknowledged the crisis in input costs and efforts USDA is making to ensure domestic food security by equipping farmers with the conservation tools they need to use less fertilizer while building capacity for greater fertilizer production in the United States.
The Secretary stressed the importance of maintaining relationships with overseas agricultural markets and foreign governments to keep markets open. He also touched on challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, including a global economic recession and changes in eating habits of people around the world.
The USDA’s Food System Transformation framework is comprised of four goals: to build a more resilient food supply chain while reducing carbon pollution, to create a fairer food system that helps producers and consumers have more power in the market, to make nutritious food more affordable and easier to access, and to emphasize equity to foster economic opportunities that would allow rural and underserved communities to retain more food system income.