(MSC News)--Food insecure Kansans are set to benefit from a new program “that will purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food” to feed residents in need.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly Monday was joined by U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Jenny Moffitt and Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam at Just Food food bank in Lawrence to announce the program.

According to a release from Kelly’s office, the Kansas Department of Agriculture has been awarded a $2.5 million cooperative agreement from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service as part of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. The funds will be used to purchase and distribute Kansas-grown and-processed foods to underserved communities and families across Kansas through the state's existing distribution network of food banks. 

The local food purchased through the agreement will be distributed through the state’s existing distribution network of Feeding America food banks, including those that serve counties in the local area, such as Second Harvest Community Food Bank and Harvesters.