CT farmers not awarded 3rd-round USDA contracts

After substantial changes to a USDA program, two local farms that were providing fresh food to Connecticut families are no longer eligible to participate.

The Farmers to Families Food Box program was formed by the USDA as an opportunity to give boxes of produce, dairy and meat to families harshly affected by COVID-19 by partnering with local and wholesale farms. The program ran through a course of two rounds over the summer and was recently extended for a third. Only two Connecticut farms were granted contracts by the USDA in the first two rounds.

The USDA made drastic changes for the program’s third round in September, requiring farmers to provide “combination boxes” full of meat, dairy and produce. The new requirements made many local farmers ineligible because aggregating each of these components is not easy for small farms, but is for large wholesalers who work with several farms, said William Dellacamera from Cecarelli’s Farm in Northford. His farm was a program participant for the first two rounds.

“It’s a great thing, but bring it back down to the farmers… so the farmer can stay profitable, stay viable and alive,” Dellacamera said as he leaned up against a barn post for support during a recent interview. “Instead, it’s getting pushed back up to corporate wholesale and that’s just not good for everybody.”

Dellacamera foresaw that demand would decline during the pandemic and viewed the Farmers to Families Food Box Program as a two-folded opportunity to help feed his community and keep his business grounded. Cecarelli’s funneled out boxes to nonprofit organizations daily. The farm committed to providing 20,000 food boxes over a two-month period. Dellacamera was packaging boxes 12 hours before delivery, making sure the food stayed as fresh at could be. Most wholesalers were packing boxes days in advance, he said.

Without the Farmers to Families Food Box program, Dellacamera now has to find other business contracts to fill the gaps caused by the pandemic. “Having this perishable product and not having orders for it is tough enough on a good year,” he said.

Cecarelli’s and Sweet Acre Farm in Lebanon, Conn., participated in rounds one and two of the program, but were deemed ineligible for the third round. Sweet Acre Farm partnered with the Willimantic Food Co-op to provide a modest contribution of about 20 boxes a week.

Alice Rubin from the Willimantic Food Co-op described the new requirements as “bureaucratic hurdles,” in the application process.

“I think the smaller-scale, both the farming and distribution, really has a place and really could make a difference in many communities and it’s so difficult to apply and go through all of the bureaucratic hurdles,” said Rubin. “It’s just a shame to me because there are so many people in need right now and it helps out farmers who are in need in a different way, and we all just need to do as much as we can right now. It’s just really important.”

Connecticut families are still in need as phase three rolls out. The USDA deemed the state eligible for 41.5 tractor-trailers of food per week in phase three, but none of it will be supplied by local farms.

Corporate wholesalers were awarded most of the contracts this round, including for Connecticut, causing small farms like Cecarelli’s and Sweet Acre to miss out. The state is now being served by Vincent Farms, a Delaware wholesaler.

Having an out-of-state wholesaler provide that much food each week posed a new problem that would have been a “logistical nightmare,” according to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt.

Had the Connecticut agriculture department not intervened, Vincent Farms would not know who operates the local food pantries, where they are located or what resources each has access to, Hulrburt said. The department, in conjunction with End Hunger CT and the state’s emergency management team, took it upon itself to create a form to organize the program’s efforts. Nonprofits and other organizations can now place orders with Vincent’s Farms via the form and coordinate delivery plans.

“Vincent Farms is really just driving food into the state, and we’re managing the rest of it for them, even though this is not our program,” Hurlburt said. “We have no responsibility to do this, we are not built into the USDA program, we’re not requested or required to do it. We’re doing this because we need to make sure that these food boxes get to families in need.”

Although Hurlburt expressed disappointment with phase three changes, he believes the program has been essential to helping feed those in need. The Farmers to Families Food Box Program has delivered over 100 million food boxes since its invention and its extension will provide more through the next couple of months.