NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal agencies and the White House Rural Council announced the federal government will lend technical assistance to a farmers market in the Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans and the formation of the Acadiana Food Alliance.
The two Louisiana projects are among 26 around the nation receiving help from the federal government. The government says it will provide teams of experts to help get the food projects off the ground. This is part of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative called Local Foods, Local Places.
In New Orleans, the city wants to create a farmers market inside a new urban park being built that will extend from outside the French Quarter to City Park. The park is taking an old unused transportation corridor and turning it into a park. The new park is called the Lafitte Greenway. It is under construction and it is expected to open next year.
The federal government also said it was backing a budding project to bolster locally grown foods in Acadiana. Farmers, restaurateurs, public officials and others have been meeting since February to bolster the area's food economy. The effort is called the Acadiana Food Alliance.
