BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will be ending two major programs that helped schools and food banks buy fresh local food.
The Local Food for Schools and the Local Food Purchase Assistance programs were created during the pandemic and pumped over $1 billion of federal dollars into local food systems. This money was used at food banks and school districts to buy fresh produce, dairy, and protein from local suppliers.
“We were able to buy the food products at retail price,” Brazos Valley Food Bank executive director Theresa Mangapora explained. “What we were able to get was the kind of food that we don’t normally get at the food bank to give out to help feed our hungry neighbors in need.”
Due to the cuts, officials say school districts across the country could face tighter food budgets and fewer healthy options for students.
At the Brazos Valley Food Bank, losing this support means they will need to look for other funding options and find other ways to source local food for the six counties they serve.
Mangapora said they still have sources of fresh food but the long-term effects of the cuts could mean fewer options for families that rely on them.
“The partnerships that we have developed with these local producers, farmers, and ranchers are very special to us,” Mangapora stated. “We’re going to try to find a way to continue to try to work with them to get some of their product we just will not be able to get as much.”
This move cancels about $660 million in funding for the Local Food for Schools program which has been active in 40 U.S. states since the COVID-19 Pandemic. An additional $420 million for the Local Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement will also be cut.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of years,” Mangapora feared. “This is not a great thing that’s happening.”
The move comes as the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, said they are going to decrease federal spending and reduce government waste.
Theresa Mangapora said the food program is needed now more than ever.
“The need is very, very high right now,” Mangapora stressed. “The pandemic was unprecedented then after that when the government benefits stopped when the pandemic was over, there was a cliff for a lot of families. I think a lot of people are in crisis, trying to figure out how to make ends meet day in and day out.”
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