Deputy Secretary Travels to California Sites to Highlight USDA Support in the West
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
At her first stop of the day this morning, Deputy Secretary Torres Small was in Carpinteria, California, to tour Hollandia Produce Group, which recently received a Rural Energy for America Program grant to implement energy efficiency systems. During the tour, she highlighted investments made in California by the Biden-Harris Administration to help small business owners and producers generate new income, lower energy costs, and advance climate-smart and sustainability practices.
Later in the day, the Deputy Secretary visited a local USDA Summer Food Service Program site in Carpinteria to see them in action serving SUN Meals. Through this program, kids of all ages can access meals and snacks at no cost during the summer at schools, parks, and other neighborhood locations. SUN Meals and SUN Bucks, a new USDA program that provides $120 in summer grocery benefits for eligible children, are key to the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower food costs and address childhood food and nutrition insecurity, which is higher in the summer months when school is out.
On Thursday, the Deputy Secretary was in Fresno to deliver messages about USDA’s efforts to address drought and following that she traveled to a farm in Dinuba to highlight investments that support the adoption of climate-smart commodities.