Source: US State of Pennsylvania
May 15, 2025 – Philadelphia, PA
ADVISORY – PHILADELPHIA – Shapiro Administration to Announce $3.4 Million Investment to Support Farms, Expand Fresh, Affordable Food Availability Across Pennsylvania
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding will announce recipients of Pennsylvania’s Fresh Food Financing Initiative grants, a $3.4 million investment in connecting low-income communities with fresh, healthy, affordable food produced by local farms.
Sec. Redding will be joined at Weaver’s Way Co-op by farmers and food business leaders to share insights from a roundtable discussion held just prior to the announcement. The discussion will explore the challenges farmers face in getting fresh food to those who need it, as well as solutions provided in Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget. The Governor’s budget includes $8 million in food assistance funding increases, plus initiatives to tackle root causes of food insecurity during a time when federal funding cuts are magnifying regional food supply challenges for farmers and families, and when proposed cuts to core food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) threaten to shift billions in costs onto states like Pennsylvania and leave more children at risk of going hungry.
In late March, Governor Shapiro called on Sec. Redding to appeal USDA’s abrupt cancellation of $13 million in Local Food Purchasing Program funds that would benefit 189 Pennsylvania farms over the next three years. To date, the USDA has not acknowledged or responded to the appeal.
WHO:
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding
Senator Vincent J. Hughes
Representative Andre D. Carroll
Weaver’s Way Co-op General Manager Jon Roesser
The Food Trust President and CEO Mark Edwards
WHEN:
Thursday, May 15 at 11:15 a.m.
WHERE:
Weavers Way Co-Op Germantown Outreach Office
326b West Chelten Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19144
RSVP: Press attending should RSVP with news outlet and photographer and reporter names to aginfo@pa.gov.