LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has terminated both an expansion of the Local Food For Schools (LFS) program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, both of which provided aid for schools and food banks making purchases.
Although the amount was never announced, the expansion would have provided more funding for the overall program, which provides funding for states to assist in the supply chain disruption brought on by the pandemic.
The expansion would have also allowed childcare centers participating in the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program to receive additional funding for local foods.
$339,494.14 were administered in the 2023-2024 school year and so far, $313,753.45 have been administered in the 2024-2025 agreement.
The current LFS program contract will not be impacted this year for those enrolled through December. The agreement is still in effect and funds will continue to come in to the 198 Nebraska schools that participate in the program.
On the other hand, farms within 400 miles of any participating school with less than 500 employees are most likely to be impacted since this program incentivized the Nebraska Department of Education to work with them.
Similarly, the Food Bank of Lincoln will also be impacted due to the cancellation of the Local Food Purchase Assistance program.
The food bank says about $125,000 from this program is used to buy local food, reimbursing them for food purchases made to local farmers. But, without this funding, they will have make difficult decisions.
They say they have been promised they’ll get that money until August.
“We want to be able to support those local producers,” said Michaella Kumke, the president and CEO of the Food Bank of Lincoln. “And having this lift, this mutual benefit is where it starts to impact our ability because of the quantity of food that we need to purchase. Not always the most affordable for us to be able to go with a local producer.”
The food bank says they still will maintain a commitment to some of their local producers and will work to make it possible to still purchase from them. But, when the food lines get longer, they said they’ll have to figure out the most affordable option, which isn’t always buying local.
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