Federal cuts squeeze already-struggling food banks, school lunch programs – Orange County Register

By Kevin Hardy, Stateline.org

For the Day Eagle Hope Project, federal money has helped volunteers deliver fresh produce and meat to families in need across the remote Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in northern Montana — while putting cash into the hands of farmers, ranchers and meat processors.

The nonprofit generally has less than $300,000 to spend per year. So the $200,000 from a U.S. Department of Agriculture local food buying program drastically raised both the quantity and quality of the food it could distribute.

“They were a major, major contributor to our food,” said Tescha Hawley, who directs the organization, which aims to improve physical, mental and spiritual health.

The USDA recently nixed more than $1 billion from two programs that helped food banks and school meal programs buy local foods, including $660 million for schoolchildren. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently described the programs as “nonessential.”

But the move has left hundreds of school systems and food banks reeling. They already face rising food prices and are struggling to help community members with growing food insecurity.

Created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Local Food Purchase Assistance and the Local Food for Schools programs aimed to build more resilient supply chains of domestic food by connecting schools and food pantries with small ranches, farms and dairies. The program was initially funded by 2021’s American Rescue Plan Act but later expanded by the Biden administration.

The federal programs stimulated the purchase of locally grown fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats — benefiting both the smaller farmers who received fair market pay for their products and the organizations granted funds to buy high quality foods.

The noncompetitive grants sent hundreds of millions of dollars to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 84 tribal governments, boosting business for more than 8,000 farmers and providing local food to almost as many food banks. The Trump administration is killing the programs, despite Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign against processed food, which he says is “poisoning” Americans.

Without ongoing funding, Hawley said, she would have to rely on cheaper, less nutritious food.

“It’s simple, right? I can get a truck … in here with all highly processed food, no problem,” she said.

Schools are facing a similar challenge: While officials running breakfast and lunch programs would prefer to buy more local products, those are often expensive. And with underfunding, high food costs and labor struggles, school lunch programs are already stretched thin.

In Milan, Tennessee, the federal funds allowed the local school system to buy minimally processed beef from a local stockyard, and broccoli, purple hull peas, tomatoes and melons from local growers.

Vickie Dunaway, who supervises the school system’s food services, told the Tennessee Lookout the federal cuts mean“going backwards” on purchasing healthier foods.

“That will obviously have to be cut out, because our budget will not withstand being able to purchase local,” she said. “Purchasing local, minimally processed food is way more expensive than buying from a distributor.”

A ‘devastating’ cut to food banks

Late last year, USDA said the programs had already spent more than $1 billion on local foods, and announced an expansion of the two programs with an additional $1.13 billion. USDA has killed that $1.13 billion expansion; it is still reimbursing the previously committed funds.

The Trump administration, which has sought to dramatically slash the size of the federal government, told recipients earlier this month that the programs “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency.”

In a statement to Stateline, the USDA said the current administration is “prioritizing stable, proven solutions that deliver lasting impact.”

“The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” the statement said.