Sen. Jon Ossoff’s push to expand access to fresh fruits, vegetables in southwest Georgia passes Congress

ALBANY — Following his push, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff secured bipartisan support to help people across southwest Georgia access more locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Ossoff secured nearly $300,000 for Flint River Fresh, a local nonprofit that works to reduce food insecurity and promote partnerships with local farmers.

The funding passed both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

“Supporting community agriculture will help make sure everybody in Albany can get fresh, healthy food and fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices that are grown right here at home,” Ossoff said.

“Despite our vibrant agricultural economy in southwest Georgia that supplies the region, country, and globe, our local communities face persistent poverty and poor health indicators,” Marty McLendon, chairman of Flint River Fresh Inc., said in a news release. “Since inception in 2017, the demand for Flint River Fresh’s programming centered on youth education, increased food access, and natural resource conservation has grown tremendously. This funding will help us improve the infrastructure of our community farm, install new cooling units, and purchase new refrigerated trucks to distribute our hoods. This support and our continued partnerships from our local leaders are critical for meaningfully growing our impact.”

The new resources will help improve the infrastructure of Flint River Fresh’s community farm, including the installation of an on-site cooling unit to improve the shelf-life of produce.

With the funding, Flint River Fresh will be able to purchase new refrigerated trucks to expand local market opportunities and build the supply chain across Dougherty County and southwest Georgia.

The funding also will expand an agricultural internship program with local technical college and job corps students.

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