Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) - Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) was awarded the USDA Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grant program. The goals of RFSI are to build resilience in the middle-of-the-food supply chain, provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, and support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities. Through the cooperative agreement, LDAF coordinates initiatives to build resilience across the middle of the food supply chain in Louisiana; funds support expanded capacity for aggregating, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distributing locally and regionally produced food products. LDAF partnered with USDA to award over $4 million to strengthen Louisiana's food supply chain infrastructure.

Stakeholders include, but are not limited to, small and underserved business owners, historically underserved farmers or ranchers, and other businesses that qualify under the Small Business Administration (SBA) categories of small, disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, and veteran-owned small businesses.

The application period is closed. The grant proposal submission period closed April 15, 2024 (4:30 PM), followed by competitive review (April 16 - June 11, 2024). Applicants were informed of USDA-approved, selected funded grants tentatively by July 31, 2025, with the funding period tentatively beginning September 1, 2025.