USDA funding cuts threaten local food banks and school meal programs

PIEDMONT TRIAD, N.C. — Concerns are mounting as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to slash more than a billion dollars from programs that support local food banks and schools.

It includes cutting over $470 million from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA), which aids local food banks, and approximately $660 million from the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which got nutritious goods from local farmers to schools.

“Great concern and worry,” Eric Aft, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank, said when we asked his reaction to the news.

It’s a reaction many have felt recently due to federal spending cuts

Aft said it’s because of the impact that funding has.

“29% of the funding we receive is through various federal programs, but the amount of food is between 35-40% – of the food that we’re distributing right now – is through federal commodities,” he explained.

Aft highlighted the importance of the funding, noting it allowed them to provide fresh, nutritious food to those in need while also supporting local farmers.

“It’s over $2 million that we were using to secure food,” he said. “But we were using those funds with local farmers – literally over 45 farmers in our area that we were investing in.”

With the funding cuts, Aft fears they will struggle to provide essential items.

“There’s great concern that we will not be able to provide as much food, especially those very nutritious items: produce, meats, dairy items that those farmers were providing to us,” he said.

While food banks across the country are feeling some of those impacts, they’re not the only ones. School districts are also taking a hit with the cut to the Local Food for Schools program this year.

School districts across the state, including Guilford County, are bracing for the impact.

“Programs that come federally include most of our special education funding, school meals,” Dr. Whitney Oakley, Superintendent of Guilford County Schools, said. “We are paying close attention because we know we have to feed kids every day, we’re doing a really good job of that here.”

In a statement, the USDA defended the cuts, stating in part,

“USDA 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.”

Local food banks like Second Harvest are urging the government to reconsider.

“If the government just takes a moment, steps back, and says, ‘let’s make sure we’re investing our dollars in impactful work,’ they’ll find that LFPA and LFPA+ are very impactful: helping farmers, helping neighbors in need,” Aft said.

ABC45 reached out to GCS to see which specific nutrition programs may be impacted.

A spokesperson says they’re waiting on direction from the North Carolina State Board of Education and do not have any information on those impacts yet.

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