WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The United States Department of Agriculture cut two programs that provide money for schools and food banks to buy food from local farmers: The Local Food for Schools cooperative agreement program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance cooperative agreement program (LFPA). The programs’ end suspends more than $1 billion in federal spending but is expected to have a widespread impact, including in the Sunflower State, where the Kansas Food Bank received $1.7 million from the LFPA funding to keep local produce in the state.
Now that funding has been cut, the Kansas Food Bank said Kansans in need will be impacted.
“The ones that it hurts the most [are] the folks that are food insecure,” said Kansas Food Bank President and CEO Brian Walker.
The Kansas Food Bank distributes food to 85 counties in the state.
“So, of the food that we took in through [the LFPA) last year, we distributed that food to every one of our counties, so every one of our counties got a little bit of that,” Walker said. “So that’s who’ it’s gonna hurt. It hurts the agency that we serve that hands it out to the folks. And again, the one that hurts the most, the worst [are] those that are food insecure.
Walker said Kansas farmers will also be impacted by the USDA cut.
“The money was used for two things. It would support local farmers and then the food banks would use that money to buy local produce, and then in return, put that on the tables of those folks that are hungry,” he said.
12 News reached out to the Wichita and Derby school districts to see if the cuts would affect them. Both districts said they were not included in the program.
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