Fresh From Florida program and trade mission for tribal and native Hawaiian people

This is your agribusiness update from the Ag Information Network.

**The Florida Department of Agriculture is pleased with the growing number of consumers following the Fresh From Florida program on social media, signing up for the Fresh From Florida newsletter and joining the Fresh From Florida Club.

Since January 2023, Fresh From Florida's online following has grown from just over 500,000 to over 1 million – a 90% increase.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says their four-year goal of reaching one million followers for Fresh From Florida was achieved in a year and a half.

www.morningagclips.com/fresh-from-florida-reaches-1-million-followers-mark/

**A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster relief program from providing preferential financial assistance to women and minority farmers, who are generally considered “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.”

In his decision, the judge concluded that the program likely violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to equal protection under the law.

Critics say the ruling is a step backwards after decades of systemic racism and policies that primarily benefited white farmers.

**Alexis Taylor, Under Secretary of Commerce and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was in Vancouver, Canada, on the first trade mission of its kind to develop export markets for Hawaiian indigenous businesses and products.

Taylor says this historic trade mission to showcase the products of Hawaii's tribal and indigenous producers is long overdue, and Canada could not be a better host country.

Taylor led a delegation of representatives from 15 indigenous agricultural companies.