USDA Reorganization Plan
- Samantha Marshall
- Jul 31
- 2 min read
Last week, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, announced a USDA Reorganization Plan. Overall, they plan to close several D.C. area offices and create "Hubs" and "Service Centers." Those will be located in:
Hubs:
Raleigh, North Carolina
Kansas City, Missouri
Indianapolis, Indiana
Fort Collins, Colorado
Salt Lake City, Utah
There are not a lot of details. There was a hearing with the United States Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, in which the Senate expressed frustration with the lack of involvement of Congress in this plan. The Deputy Secretary Vaden stated that the plan as it is now is "the first step, not the final step" (Food Policy Tracker). There is little detail about how it is going to impact Food Nutrition Services (FNS) and the child nutrition programs. As you know, FNS is the part of the USDA that oversees the federal nutrition programs and nutrition-related resources.
Explicitly stated as it relates to FNS: The Food and Nutrition Service will reduce its number of regions from seven to five and align locations with the USDA Hubs and Service Centers over a two-year period (page 3). The service centers are in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Additionally, the memo states that the offices at Braddock Place will be closed, which is a location that houses FNS staff.
We don't know the impact this reorganization will have on CACFP. We can infer that it will certainly have adverse implications on staff institutional knowledge and staff capacity as it can be assumed that the relocation plans will result in staff leaving the USDA.
The National WIC Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics have issued statements sounding the alarm, noting concerns about this reorganization and lack of clarity about what this means for our essential federal nutrition programs.
We will continue to track this and keep you posted, and as you experience shifts in your operations, please continue to keep us posted.
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