No dollar amount was revealed, but the Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it is offering assistance to help the Delaware Nation in Oklahoma under a Trump Administration plan to promote agriculture and rural prosperity.
The assistance is through the Local Foods, Local Places initiative that helps communities reinvest in their neighborhoods and improve quality of life as they develop the local food economy.
The Delaware Nation will focus on revitalization in Anadarko, Oklahoma, to create a community anchor for physical activities and healthy, local food. The project aims to establish a permanent farmers market, develop a walking and biking trail, and create a community garden that will help manage stormwater runoff, improve air and soil quality, and reduce waste through composting.
“America’s farmers and ranchers are some of the nation’s first environmentalists,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “We look forward to helping our community partners develop local food enterprises that support local farmers, improve public health, protect the environment, and grow local economies.”
In 2018, LFLP is supported by EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Delta Regional Authority. Since its launch in 2014, LFLP has helped 78 communities across the country develop local food enterprises—such as farmers markets, community gardens, and cooperative grocery stores—that improve environmental, economic, and health outcomes.The communities receiving assistance today were selected from more than 75 applications. A summary of the rest of the planned projects is provided below.
EPA is also releasing a new report to help other communities interested in growing their local food economy. Lessons from Community Leaders on Using Local Foods to Revitalize Downtowns summarizes experiences, successes, and challenges from LFLP partners who participated in a national LFLP Summit in Washington, D.C. in July 2017. An update on results from 2017 LFLP community projects is also now available.
