BOISE, ID – Federal funding is in doubt for a program helping farmers in Idaho and other states provide local agricultural products to organizations like food banks.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is among the agencies evaluating the programs it funds and has cut off more than $1 billion in spending used for purchasing local food from farmers and ranchers that goes to schools, child care facilities and food banks, including the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.
Denise Dixon, executive director of the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force, said the funding cut will rob local farmers of market opportunities.
“They scale up their operations for this funding, and now all of a sudden it’s gone,” Dixon explained. “How that affects our farmers is going to be really interesting to see with all the other cuts that they’ve made. I’m concerned about our underserved farmers.”
The USDA said it is honoring contracts through September but will then end funding. Dixon pointed out Idaho food banks and anti-hunger organizations will lose out with the cuts as well.
“They’re losing the opportunity to buy local and to buy lower cost food versus processed foods for their folks that visit the food banks, that type of thing,” Dixon outlined.
Dixon pointed out USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has said she will focus on food and farmers but Dixon believes the cuts do the opposite.
“She’s going to really affect the Idaho economy from every aspect doing this,” Dixon contended. “From feeding children to making our farmers sustainable and everything else they’re cutting.”
