The U.S. Department of Agriculture is shutting down two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks for purchasing food from local farmers and producers.
The Local Foods for Schools program, which directed about $660 million to schools and childcare centers, allowed them to buy fresh, locally sourced food for meals. A separate initiative helped food banks acquire products from nearby farms.
Impact on Schools and Farmers
The funding cuts will have a significant impact on school districts that relied on local food sources for meal programs. In Maine, for example, the RSU 23 school district used the program to buy food directly from local fishermen, dairy producers, and farmers.
“I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,” said Caroline Trinder, the district’s food and nutrition services director. “It’s the least processed, and we’re helping our local economy, we’re helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.”
Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association, expressed concerns that school meal programs already struggling with funding shortages will be hit hard by the decision.
“In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers and is detrimental to school meal programs struggling to manage rising food and labor costs,” Gleave said in a statement.
USDA Shifts Priorities
According to the USDA, the programs were created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and no longer align with the agency’s current priorities.
“The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” a USDA spokesperson said.
Massachusetts, which received around $12 million in federal funding to help schools and childcare programs buy food from local sources, is among the states feeling the effects of the cuts.
Patrick Tutwiler, the state’s education secretary, called the decision “deeply disappointing” and warned that it could signal more reductions in the future.
“There’s clear misalignment around what is important and what matters,” Tutwiler said. “We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.”
Concerns Over Future Funding
School nutrition directors are now preparing for potential rollbacks to other programs that expanded funding for school meals—an issue that could affect students who rely on them as a primary source of food.
Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican-backed tax policies include raising the poverty level required for schools to offer universal free meals without an application. Other cost-cutting proposals, such as restricting eligibility for food assistance programs and requiring income verification for free or reduced-price school meals, could also exclude some eligible families from receiving aid, according to the School Nutrition Association.
As school districts and local farmers brace for the impact of these funding cuts, advocates worry that both children’s nutrition and local agricultural economies could suffer as a result.
