Here is Renee's interview with Bryan P. Hurlburt, Commissioner Department of Agriculture for Connecticut.
He discusses Governor Ned Lamont's recent announcement that $10 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funding and American Recovery Plan Act funding to support Connecticut’s dairy and aquaculture industries.
Listen here:
Governor Ned Lamont announced that he is directing nearly $10 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Funding and American Recovery Plan Act funding to support Connecticut’s dairy and aquaculture industries, which experienced significant market disruptions during the pandemic, negatively impacting sales.
Additional funds will be used to address food insecurity with funds to purchase CT Grown products for drive-through distributions and extending the availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at farmers markets.
This comes in addition to $1.45 million that was previously allocated to programs that support farmers and food access in Connecticut, including CT Grown for CT Kids; the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; the Senior’s Farmers Market Nutrition program; and Foodshare’s drive-through distribution. These dollars will keep Foodshare distribution open through at least the end of October.
With these new dollars, the state will have reached a total investment of $10.3 million in these programs.