WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – As new regulations reducing federal spending have been implemented, food-insecure Texans and small farmers alike are feeling the impacts.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two cuts have been made that will prevent schools and food banks from accessing $1 billion to buy food from local farmers.
David O’Neil, CEO of the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank, said that the budget cuts have affected food programs such as the local food purchase assistance program.
“The LFPA program has been cut recently, and that was a program that partnered food banks with local farmers to be able to not only support them but provide us with much needed food, so that’s impacted us and will impact us into the future,” O’Neil said, adding, “Because we won’t have that funding and we won’t have access to the food that we had access to before.”
The food bank assures that amid any reductions in funding, they will continue to work hard to provide food for those most in need.
O’Neil said that the reductions will have a negative impact on people.
“It’s going to be impactful in a negative way to people, for example, the Senate just released its version of the reconciliation bill this morning, and in that bill, they moderated the budget cuts from $290 billion and SNAP cuts to 211,” he said.
According to the North Texas Food Bank, about 777,690 people, including one in seven people coming into the North Texas Food Bank face food insecurity.
“We have the 15th-highest food insecurity rate or hunger rate out of 198 food banks in the entire country, so hunger went up last year, it went up this year, it’s gone up consequently each and every year, and so the need is not going to disappear,” O’Neil said.
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