USDA announces US$40M nutrition management plan as part of the Inflation Reduction Act

16 Aug 2022 --- The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is presenting a US$40 million budget for a nutritional management plan, after lawmakers passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The proposal aims to improve the quality of agriculture in terms of efficiency, environmental sustainability and monetary terms, leaving a long-term impact on nutrition.

The Natural Resources Conservation Center (NRCS) is to develop the plan through expanding partnerships, target funding, increasing program flexibilities and launching a campaign to promote the economic benefits of imposing a nutritional management program.

“President Biden and Congress have taken an important, historic step toward easing the burden of inflation on the US public and meeting the moment on climate. Agriculture has long been at the forefront of our fight against climate change,” says Tom Vilsack, Agriculture secretary at the USDA. 

“From climate-smart agriculture to supporting healthy forests and conservation, to tax credits, to biofuels, infrastructure and beyond, the Inflation Reduction Act provides USDA with significant additional resources to continue to lead the charge,” Vilsack underscores.

Child nutrition away from spotlightIncreasing investments in farming will provide more efficiency, sustainability and monetary gains, according to the USDA.
Previously, the Senate was said to have “stripped the bill of an extension of free school meals and additional food assistance for children during the summer, and missed the opportunity to provide millions of school kids the extension of free school meals and food assistance during the summer,” according to the Center for Science in Public Interest (CSPI).

The CSPI notes 30 million school kids will be affected by this compromise.

The US is not alone in compromising on school meals. The UK government received similar criticism earlier this year after it imposed a threshold of income levels, not making nutritious school meals accessible for all.

The Nutrition Management Plan
The NRCS announced a streamlined funding opportunity of US$40 million in the nutrition management program, divided between the different activities.

The activities presented are “key conservation programs, including Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts and the Conservation Stewardship Program,” notes the USDA.

Even though the White House described this as a historic achievement for the country and believes it will benefit millions of US families, the Republicans did not stand behind the decision.

“Unfortunately, not a single Republican in Congress voted for the package. Not a single Republican voted to lower the cost of prescription drugs, reduce health insurance premiums, make investments to address the climate crisis, tackle inflation, or require the wealthiest corporations to pay their fair share,” the White House said.

Macroeconomic shocksNot a single republican voted for investments in climate change, to tackle inflation, or implement additional taxes for wealthy corporations.
The USDA explains that their approach is to address the needs of domestic consumers and producers, as investing in nutrition management strategies will benefit farmers and increase resources, leading to improved food security on a global level.

“The pandemic and Ukraine invasion have led to supply chain disruptions, higher prices of inputs, and goods shortages in countries across the globe,” says Vilsack.

The economic campaign aims to inform farmers who adopt the plan, as they will save an average of US$30 per cropland and be more environmentally sustainable. Currently, 89 million acres of cropland exceed the nitrogen loss threshold, which, if addressed through the nutrition management plan, could save a total of US$2.6 billion, according to the department.

Producers are to receive assistance in how to efficiently and effectively supply soils with higher nutritional density, at the same time minimizing transport. 

“The bill invests US$40 billion into existing USDA programs promoting climate-smart agriculture, rural energy efficiency and reliability, forest conservation, and more,” says the USDA. 

The department continues: “Approximately US$20 billion of this investment will support oversubscribed conservation programs, meaning that more producers will have access to conservation assistance that will support healthier land and water, improve the resilience of their operations, support their bottom line and combat climate change.” 

By Beatrice Wihlander