Virginia’s Food Distribution program manages the distribution of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) donated foods and administrative funds to approximately 500 public and private entities throughout Virginia. Recipients include Virginia's public and private schools, hospitals, nursing homes, soup kitchens, elderly nutritional programs, correctional facilities, summer programs and day care centers. Foods are also made available to food banks for distribution to Virginians in need.
This program proudly supports Virginia’s agriculture industry and markets Virginia products as well as USDA-donated foods to schools and institutional buyers. Contact the Food Distribution program if you have a product suitable for Virginia food service programs.
VDACS is seeking proposals from agencies that have the capacity to procure local foods from farmers and growers to be distributed to persons in need or be provided to charitable food assistance organizations that can distribute to persons in need across the state. View the guidelines for more information.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, is entering into a cooperative agreement with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program Cooperative Agreement. VDACS will develop and administer coordinated initiatives to build resilience across the middle-of-the-food-supply-chain. Funds will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry. VDACS will work in partnership with USDA to make competitive subawards to support infrastructure in the middle-of-the-supply-chain for domestic food and farm businesses and other eligible entities. Application period March 15th thru April 15th 2024.
Webinar
Friday April 12th, 2024
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Applications
Resources
VDACS is seeking proposals from charitable food assistance organizations with a plan to engage local farmers and growers to purchase agricultural products that will be distributed to persons in need.
VDACS is seeking proposals from charitable food assistance organizations with a plan to engage local farmers and growers to purchase agricultural products that will be distributed to persons in need.
Inbound USDA food shipments for Virginia schools are available via Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM).
Virginia's Food Distribution program offers further processing for many USDA commodities such as cheese, fruits, meats and poultry. The option is offered to public schools as an alternative to receiving the products directly from USDA.