U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff recently pressed President Trump’s Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins today to expedite Hurricane relief for Georgia farmers, according to a press release from the Georgia Senator's office. 

Ossoff asked the Secretary to expedite relief to Georgia farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene and pressed her about the president's cuts to the Local Foods for Schools Program (LFS) that he said "helps Georgia farmers sell fresh food to local schools."

Georgia, the leading producer of pecans in the United States, almost lost its entire pecan crop last year due to Hurricane Helene. Ossoff said to Rollins that Georgia lost the majority of its mature pecan trees, which will set the state's farm production back for years. 

"We were thankful that Congress approved disaster assistance funding at the end of last year, but it's critical that these funds get to those who need help,” he added. 

In response, Secretary Rollins said  USDA will make Hurricane Helene disaster funding available "by the end of the month, hopefully in the next week.”

As for the department's cancellation of the Fresh Food Program for Georgia Farms and Schools, Sen. Ossoff cited Georgia school districts and farmers who say they rely on the program and pressed Rollins on why the Trump Administration canceled the program.

Prior to the program, purchasing from local farmers was often cost-prohibitive due to pricing and transportation challenges, however, the program alleviated those barriers, by enabling the schools and farmers to build direct partnerships with farmers in Dawson, Hall, Fannin, and Warren Counties, among others.

As a response, Rollins said the program "is not a good use of taxpayer funds," and she will provide to the committee an economic justification for the outright cancellation of the program to show so.