advocacy, federal policy, general interest
USDA Abruptly Terminates Regional Food Program, Pulls $6 Million from Alaska Food and Farm Businesses
by Rachel Lord, AFPC Advocacy & Policy Director
The Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC) was notified yesterday—just one hour before a national press release—that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has terminated the Regional Food Business Center (RFBC) Program effective immediately, abruptly withdrawing millions of dollars from Alaska’s food and farm sector. AFPC has been leading the Alaska arm of the Islands and Remote Areas Regional Food Business Center, which was one of twelve national centers selected and announced with great fanfare by USDA in May 2023.
“This decision is devastating. USDA just pulled the rug out from under Alaska’s food and farm businesses, with no warning and no explanation after six months of silence. We have communities, businesses, Tribal partners, and regional organizations who have spent the past year preparing to receive urgently needed investments to strengthen local food markets and distribution. This decision undermines the confidence and good-faith collaboration we’ve built with USDA and our partners across Alaska.”
The now-canceled program was designed as a five-year initiative to deliver grant funding and technical assistance to small- and mid-sized food producers, processors, and distributors across the nation. In Alaska, it represented $7 million in direct and coordinated investment for food infrastructure, jobs, and local economies, with over $6 million still on the table to be spent. “Alaska’s food systems are already stretched thin by geography, logistics, and historic underinvestment,” said Mixon. “This program wasn’t just another grant. It was a pathway to real, long-term change.”
In USDA’s statement today, Secretary Rollins claimed the administration had created “massive programs without any long-term way to finance them,” stating that the RFBC program is “not sustainable for farmers” and out of line with Congressional intent. AFPC strongly rejects this justification.
“Our Regional Food Business Center has been intentionally focused on supporting systems-level change from day one,” said Mixon. “We have designed every aspect of this effort to be sustainable, locally driven, and responsive to the real needs of rural and remote communities. This was not a patchwork grant scheme—it was a well-planned, strategic investment to strengthen long-neglected food systems across Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories for lasting improvements. The claim that this work was unsustainable or misaligned with intent is simply not true.”
AFPC and its partners across the state had been actively coordinating with food and farm businesses to launch the program, with initial grant applications and technical assistance support scheduled to begin later this summer.
“We are deeply disappointed, but we’re not going anywhere,” said Mixon. “This decision reinforces how vulnerable local food systems are to federal unpredictability. AFPC will continue to advocate for meaningful, community-rooted investments that honor the resilience and innovation of Alaska’s growers, businesses, and food leaders.”
