The Feeding Marianas Food Purchase Program is designed to purchase nutritious foods from local and/or regional socially disadvantaged producers for distribution to underserved communities. The program is expected to benefit over 100 local producers and thousands of children, adults, and senior citizens in underserved communities of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The program aims to improve the local food supply chain and system by supporting and expanding economic opportunities for local producers. The program will assist in identifying and partnering socially disadvantaged producers and expanding their customer base with local distributors.
The Feeding Marianas Food Purchase Program will increase access to healthy, locally grown food options for underserved communities, increase economic opportunities and revenue for socially disadvantaged producers, improve food security and health outcomes for the communities served, and strengthen local food systems and sustainable agriculture practices.
For these reasons, we humbly request a third-year option and supplemental funding to execute our program over the three main islands of our Commonwealth.