USDA says Covid era is 'over' and cuts $1 billion program connecting schools, food banks and local farmers

Awarded USDA LFS funds for 2025 were canceled.
(Adobe Stock photo)

The Department of Agriculture has cut $1 billion in pandemic-era funding that helped schools and food banks purchase fresh food from local farmers. "About $660 million went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program," reports Annie Ma of The Associated Press. "A separate program provided money to food banks."

The USDA explained the cuts as a move away from pandemic-era programs that "no longer support the agency’s priorities," Ma explains. "A USDA spokesperson said in a statement, 'The Covid era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality.'"

Regardless of why the funding has been cut, schools, children and farmers will now do with less. "The cuts will hurt school districts with 'chronically underfunded' school meal budgets, said Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association," Ma writes. Gleave told Ma, “In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers."

With student lunch money drastically cut, some school districts will have to scramble to feed hungry students. Beyond that problem, the USDA's new priorities have left some teachers and administrators frustrated and disappointed. Patrick Tutwiler, Massachusetts state’s education secretary, told AP, "There’s a clear misalignment around what is important and what matters. We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.”

Some Washington lawmakers have proposed restricting free school meals. Ma reports, "Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican’s tax bill include raising the poverty level needed for schools to provide universal free meals without an application," Ma adds. "Restricting eligibility for food assistance programs and requiring income verification for free or reduced-price school meals, two proposals for cutting costs, would also likely cut out eligible families from accessing food."