The USDA cut two federal programs that spend more than $1 billion a year to help schools and food banks buy food from local farms and ranches. Newsweek.
The agency cut the $660 million local food cooperative agreement program (LFS) for 2025, a USDA spokesperson Newsweek. The Local Food Purchase Support Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which would provide roughly $500 million to support the food bank, has also been cut this year.
Why is it important?
The cuts will affect more than 40 states that signed contracts to participate in the program the previous year. Advocates say the cuts could threaten school lunch programs and hurt struggling families working to raise grocery costs.
Wong Maye-E/AP Photo
What do you know
The Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for cooperation agreements that support the ability of schools and other organisations to purchase local food will have a devastating impact on students, schools, farmers and the local economy,” said Alexis Bylander, interim director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Center for Food Research. Newsweek.
Tara Thomas, government affairs manager for the School Principals Association, said school districts across the country are already facing challenges in maintaining school lunch programs.
She said Newsweek The LFS program was a way for the USDA to help schools in purchasing local, nutritious foods, which was “an important complement to the national school lunch program and the school breakfast program.”
According to Pamela Koch, a professor of nutrition and education at Teachers College at Columbia University, the Healthy and Non-Hungry Children Act of 2010 prepares more meals in school kitchens. “This requires resources and these cuts sadly reduce these efforts,” Koch said. Newsweek.
The loss of the program “may lead to more trust in ultra-processed, pre-prepared meal items,” Koch said. “School lunches can not only nourish students, but also expand their taste. This can only happen with local meals and financial support for school lunches.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said Cut could not have come “at a bad time.”
Without the program, schools will “had a hard time providing prepared meals from fresh ingredients, and many districts will face widening budget gaps,” she said in a statement provided. Newsweek.
A USDA spokesman said it focuses on a “core mission” of “strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets and ensuring access to nutritious foods,” adding that it is prioritizing “stable and proven solutions that have lasting impacts.”
What people are saying
A USDA spokesman said: “This is not a sudden change. Last week, USDA released it to meet existing commitments and support local food purchases, exceeding the previously mandated 5 billion LFPA and LFS.
“With 16 robust nutrition programs in place, USDA focuses on its core mission to strengthen food security, support the agricultural market and ensure access to nutritious foods. Unlike the Biden administration, which poured CCC funds without Longevity’s plan, the USDA will supply nutritional value that supplies stable nutritional value, reflecting that reality moving forward.”
Shannon Gleave, chairman of the School Nutrition Association, said in a statement: “The food program for local schools allows the chronically underfunded school lunch program to purchase fresh local options for student meals from local dairy farms, from local produce, fresh fish, or meat, cheese, yogurt and milk from nearby ranches.
Alexis Bylander, interim director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research Center, said: “The Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for cooperation agreements that support the ability of schools and other organisations to purchase local food will have a devastating impact on students, schools, farmers and the local economy. With food costs continuing to rise and schools struggling to grow their meal budgets, it’s time to intensify efforts to improve access to affordable, healthy local foods.
Tara Thomas, government affairs manager for the Association of School Chiefs, said: “School nutrition programs are important to ensure that students receive the food they need to thrive academically and physically. However, school districts across the country face challenges in maintaining these programs due to limited resources.
“As districts tackle rising food and labor costs along with growing food insecurity in the community, the federal government needs to bolster these programs with additional resources.
President of Becky Pringle National Education Association, said in a statement: “[President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s] The efforts to steal healthy diets from students could not come at even worse times. With food prices skyrocketing and household budgets narrowing, more families rely on healthy school lunches to nourish them. These popular programs allowed the school to provide fresh, locally produced, nutritious foods. That’s an advantage for both parties. Students benefit from healthier diets, and schools grow their limited budgets even further. Without this support, schools will struggle to provide prepared meals from fresh ingredients, and many districts will face widening budget gaps. ”
She added: “Wilding locally produced school lunches directly hurts students’ health and learning, including links to learning and food sources. If you’re interested in academic success, cutting back on food funding is a totally wrong move for everyone.”
What will happen next
School districts across the country need to evaluate ways to mitigate losses in funding for school lunch programs.
