USDA halts more than $1B in funding for local food banks, schools

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it has nixed more than $1 billion in funding for local food banks and schools by terminating two programs that aid state, tribal and territorial government food purchases.

The buy-local programs support the purchase and distribution of goods produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination.

The move comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, including some cuts to programs that critics say are mandated by law.

The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program have been canceled because they “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency,” the USDA said in a statement to The Hill. 

“As a pandemic-era program, LFPA will now be sunsetted at the end of the performance period, marking a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives. This isn’t an abrupt shift—just last week, USDA released over half a billion in previously obligated funds for LFPA and LFS to fulfill existing commitments and support ongoing local food purchases,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement.   

“With 16 robust nutrition programs in place, USDA remains focused on its core mission: strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious food.”

The first program was set to funnel about $660 million in 2025 to purchase produce from local farms for schools and child care facilities, while the latter program would have allocated $500 million this year to food banks.

“With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat, Congress needs to invest in underfunded school meal programs rather than cut services critical to student achievement and health,” Shannon Gleave, School Nutrition Association (SNA) president, said in a statement. 

The organization lobbied against additional cuts for school meal programs at the Capitol on Tuesday, citing a number of reductions listed in House Republicans’ budget reconciliation package.

The GOP resolution would require income verification to accompany every free and reduced-price school meal application, ending broad-based categorical eligibility that allows families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be automatically approved for free school meals without completing another application.

It also raises the threshold for the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools to provide free meals to all students, demanding that 60 percent of the school’s students qualify for the provision on their own for the school to make the cut, up from the current 25 percent.

The SNA said that change would take free meals away from 12 million U.S. students.

“These proposals would cause millions of children to lose access to free school meals at a time when working families are struggling with rising food costs,” Gleave said. 

“Meanwhile, short-staffed school nutrition teams, striving to improve menus and expand scratch-cooking, would be saddled with time-consuming and costly paperwork created by new government inefficiencies,” she added.

Democratic governors are also objecting to the cuts, saying they will impact students and farmers alike. 

“Cutting funds for these programs is a slap in the face to Illinois farmers and the communities they feed,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. 

“The Trump Administration’s refusal to release grant funds doesn’t just hurt farmers in the program, it devastates our most vulnerable, food-insecure communities relying on meat, fresh produce and other nutritious donations.”

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) spoke out against the new measure citing the $7.1 million partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and State of Georgia launched in 2023 to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables for schools across the state.

“This will hurt Georgia kids and Georgia farmers. We should support our schools providing kids with fresh, nutritious food grown locally by Georgia farmers. It’s a win-win for childhood nutrition and Georgia agriculture,” Ossoff said in a Tuesday statement.

“I urge the Trump Administration to reverse course.”

Updated March 13 at 4:37 pm ET.