The LuLac Edition #5, 277, March 22nd, 2025

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TRUMP FOOD POLICIES IMPACT FARMERS AND REDUCE FOOD FOR FINANCIALLY STRAPPED

FAMILIES    

 

USDA CANCELS $1B IN LOCAL FOOD PURCHASING FSCHOOLS, AND FOOD BANKS

 

The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending.

Roughly $660 million that schools and child care facilities were counting on to purchase food from nearby farms through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program in 2025 has been canceled, according to the School Nutrition Association.

State officials were notified Friday of USDA’s decision to end the LFS program for this year. More than 40 states had signed agreements to participate in previous years, according to SNA and several state agencies.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which supports food banks and other feeding organizations, has also been cut. USDA notified states that it was unfreezing funds for existing LFPA agreements but did not plan to carry out a second round of funding for fiscal year 2025.

In a statement, a USDA spokesperson confirmed that funding, previously announced last October, “is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.”

The Biden administration expanded the spending for both programs to build a more resilient food supply chain that didn’t just rely on major food companies. Last year, USDA announced more than $1 billion in additional funding for the programs through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a New Deal-era USDA fund for buying agricultural commodities.

The Trump administration’s move to halt the programs comes as school nutrition officials are becoming increasingly anxious about affording healthy food with the current federal reimbursement rate for meals. As food costs have risen in the last few years, more people are turning to food banks and other feeding organizations to supplement their increased grocery bills.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, castigated the administration for the decision, noting that her state would lose $12 million it planned to dole out to school districts.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared that feeding children and supporting local farmers are no longer ‘priorities,’ and it’s just the latest terrible cut with real impact on families across Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement.

 

MAGA SENATOR

 SAYS

“DO THE CAN CAN!”

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) seemed to defend the Trump administration’s cuts to local food purchasing for schools and food banks, saying Thursday that “canned food” and other non-perishable options can also be “wholesome.”

“I think there’s different avenues we can take on that to make sure that still meet the needs of people,” Fischer said at POLITICO Playbook’s First 100 Days breakfast series.

Fischer was responding to news earlier this week that USDA canceled two programs that gave schools and food banks money to purchase food from local farms, axing more than $1 billion in federal spending.

The Republican senator added that she continues to back food banks and supports having “fresh food available,” but “sometimes we forget that” canned food is “always an option as well.”

As my late friend Leroy used to say, “This bitch be lying.”. My heavens, how can YOU support food banks when the guy you kneel down before has cut food from kids?

Now we are not saying that this is going to end food programs. But it will make it more difficult for farmers who got this subsidy as well as people administering food programs in schools. Once again, it astounds me that farmers voted in droves for Trump while ungratefully forgetting what the Biden administration did for them. (Politico, AP, LuLac)