Greater Boston Food Bank faces federal funding cuts

The Greater Boston Food Bank is warning of significant funding losses due to cuts by the Trump administration.

The food bank supplies more than 600 local food pantries and hunger relief agencies across eastern Massachusetts. The group says it’s losing nearly $2.3 million in emergency food resources due to reductions in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding.

“There’s just less opportunity right now for families to feed their families when they come to their local food pantry in their community,” said Catherine D’Amato, the nonprofit’s chief executive.

In an email to supporters last week, D’Amato asked for donations to help make up for the loss of funds. She said about one-third of people in Greater Boston don’t have enough food. “We must take action to shore up access to food to meet our neighbors’ basic needs as we weather this time in our history,” she wrote in the email.

The funding cuts also reduce access to school meal programs for young children.

“The concern going forward is that while these cuts hit the Greater Boston Food Bank, other USDA budget reductions have also affected schools,” D’Amato told WBUR.

One major program affected is the Patrick Leahy Farm to School State Agency Grant Program, which has provided Massachusetts students with access to locally grown food.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has informed schools that the grant program was canceled with no reason given, according to the Healey administration. That will halt nearly $385,000 in funding. In a statement, Gov. Maura Healey accused President Trump of “ taking away food from our children and families.”

More cuts, including to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, could result in an estimated $554 million loss for Massachusetts, according to the Greater Boston Food Bank.

D’Amato stressed to WBUR the ripple effect of these funding losses.

“ Every day we hear another story about layoffs or we hear another story about these funds being canceled,” she said. “All of that has a cascading impact on families and their choices.”