Pennsylvania officials filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the termination of the federal Local Food Purchasing Assistance program, which would have provided $13 million this year to directly support more than 180 Pennsylvania farmers and more than a dozen food banks.
Some of that support went to Pleasant Lane Farms in Unity, which had an agreement through LPFA to supply cheese to the Westmoreland Food Bank.
“We’ve had to make some adjustments and look for some additional outlets for these products,” said Pleasant Lane’s Jason Frye, who said the farm stands to lose $100,000 in revenue this year because of the LPFA program cuts. “We’re really hoping that the funding gets restored so the food bank can resume purchasing commodities for the people who have have a real need.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying in a press release termination of the program was a broken promise.
“Pennsylvania farmers do the noble work of putting food on our tables – and for the last three years, they’ve been paid to provide fresh, local food to food banks across our Commonwealth as part of a successful federal initiative,” Shapiro said Wednesday morning. “When the USDA abruptly terminated our agreement without cause, they ripped away a reliable source of income for 189 Pennsylvania farms — and cut off funding that would have helped provide over 4.4 million meals to families across the Commonwealth.”
The program, which began during the covid-19 pandemic, provides federal subsidies for state, tribal and territorial governments to purchase food produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination to help support local, regional and underserved producers and shorten supply chains.
In early March, the Trump administration sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, notifying it the program’s 2025 agreement was terminated, along with $13 million in congressionally approved funding.
In all, $500 million in Local Food Purchase Assistance funding nationwide disappeared when the most recent three-year contract, signed in December 2024, was abruptly canceled in March.
Between the Greater Pittsburgh and Westmoreland food banks, the program’s termination will mean the loss of more than 8 million pounds of food, according to officials at both nonprofits.
The lawsuit challenges USDA’s determination that the program “no longer effectuates USDA’s priorities.”
The LFPA is “a food assistance program in which 100% of funds are used to buy food from local farmers, that is then distributed through Pennsylvania’s charitable food network to people and communities experiencing hunger,” state officials argued in court documents.
In public statements, USDA officials also claimed Pennsylvania was “sitting on tens of millions” in unspent LFPA funds — despite the fact that the program operates on a reimbursement basis. Shapiro said state agriculture officials pay vendors up front and are reimbursed by the federal government once expenses are incurred.
Pennsylvania agriculture officials wrote to the USDA on multiple occasions asking for the basis of its decision and to invokes its right to formally appeal the decision.
USDA officials did not respond to either letter, according to the lawsuit.
“The USDA’s decision was not just unexpected — it was unlawful, and it has already caused serious harm to Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry,” said Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “This is about real people — the farmers, producers, and rural communities who are now facing uncertainty as a result.”
The lawsuit asks U.S. District Court to declare the program’s termination arbitrary and capricious, and to rule that it violates the regulations USDA is supposed to be following.
Officials from the Shapiro administration said Pennsylvania is one of the only U.S. states that uses the program’s funding exclusively to support in-state farmers. Shapiro’s proposed 2025-26 budget would build on the funding by adding $4 million each to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System and State Food Purchase programs.
Shapiro said the termination of the LFPA program is not just bad policy.
“It’s a broken promise,” Shapiro said.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at [email protected].
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