Earlier this month, the USDA cut funding for two federal programs that spent more than $1 billion to help schools and food banks buy food from local farms and ranches.
This includes $660 million for the Local Food for Schools program and $500 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.
Brian Greene, president and CEO of the Houston Food Bank, said this cut will impact the organizations’ ability to distribute 40 truckloads of food each month. The organization provides access to 140 million meals in 18 counties through 1,600 community partners.
“Our distribution partners and neighbors rely on us for this food, and we are committed to maintaining this critical supply,” Greene said. “As we continue to assess the full impact of the loss of funding, the support of our donors is more critical than ever. In addition to giving, advocacy is crucial. Our community can also help us advocate by speaking to elected officials about the importance of protecting USDA and [The Emergency Food Assistance Program] foods.”
Spoonfuls CEO and founder Ashley Stanley said in a letter that the organization recently convened with 20 of the food programs in its network to discuss the impact of these funding cuts.
“What we heard — what we already knew — is that this isn’t business as usual,” Stanley said.
“In 15 years of Spoonfuls (including the years we worked continuously to be a food resource for our neighbors throughout a global pandemic), we and our partners have never seen anything like what we’re seeing now,” Stanley added. “With near daily announcements of various federal and state program and funding cuts (the latest just yesterday as we learned that USDA is canceling $3.3 million dollars’ worth of food deliveries to Massachusetts’ food banks, causing ripple effects for our partners and for Spoonfuls), programs we know and love in communities where we live and work, and people we care about, are in trouble. Because of this, we are no longer treating our work as ‘business as usual’ and, instead, are proactively moving into emergency response.”
Mollie Van Lieu, vice president of nutrition and health for the International Fresh Produce Association, said the organization understands the vital need for increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
“IFPA champions federal initiatives focused on increasing Americans’ access and consumption of fruits and vegetables,” Van Lieu said. “In addition to improving public health, these programs can create consistent demand for American-grown produce, benefiting farmers and strengthening local food systems. IFPA remains committed to working with the administration on fiscally responsible and effective policies that increase fruit and vegetable consumption, improve public health, and strengthen the farm economy.”
Leslie Gordon, president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, said the Emergency Food and Shelter Program has been paused, which cut $8 million in spending in the New York City marketplace. She said she also worries about how these cuts could be the start of deeper future cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
“The American government goes out and purchases food through a bidding process from our farmers and producers and then and finds it homes at food banks and onto someone’s plate,” she said. “It’s a magnificent product. It’s gorgeous fresh produce.”
Gordon said any changes in purchasing from local producers have serious economic consequences for farmers, retailers and consumers.
“I think people don’t appreciate that when you make a decision there can be a very broad impact,” she said. “So, when you pull one lever or make one change there are any number of downstream impacts that happen, and we have to be really good and concise about helping lawmakers who hold the power to create change and to prevent things like this from happening — to unlock a process that prevents a wider crisis.”
Gordon said that every dollar spent in SNAP has a downstream economic impact of $1.50 and that SNAP and the other food purchasing programs provide such critical access to healthy nutritious food, especially fresh produce.
“Food is what powers people’s every day,” she said. “You can’t really do much and be successful at school if you’re a kid or a college student and you can’t be successful at work if you’re a professional if your stomach is constantly rumbling. You can’t take care of your family. You can’t be a resilient productive member of your own home if you don’t have access to good nutrition. There’s a lot at stake.”
Gordon encourages those concerned about these potential impacts to contact lawmakers and lobby for access to fresh produce for those in need.
“This country is built on the backs of advocates and people who stand up for themselves and this is our collective moment together to create change and the best way to do that is to really be proactive about it. If you take a back seat to it, we’re all going to pay. If we do nothing, then we shouldn’t be surprised about a result that we don’t like.”
