The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced its new Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops (FSCSC) program, which will help offset costs for specialty crops producers who incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses. FSCSC will provide up to $200 million in assistance to specialty crops operations that allocated financial resources to obtain or renew a food safety certification in calendar years 2022 or 2023. 

FSCSC is intended to provide critical assistance for specialty crops operations, which, according to USDA, have been acutely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA strives to achieve equitable delivery of FSCSC while integrating lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions into the program.