Trump's USDA cuts hurt Illinois farmers and food-insecure communities
'Farmers face so many challenges as it is, and now they must contend with the uncertainty of whether or not these contracts with the government will be honored,' said National Young Farmer's Coalition's Anna Morrell. 'We need certainty and we need certainty so we can continue feeding our communities.'
Trump's executive order to cut funding resulted in the Illinois Department of Agriculture announcing it will no longer be able to operate the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) and the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) on March 4th.
The House Agriculture Committee also heard from multiple farmers about how tariffs on agricultural products are causing the farm bill's approval to be delayed.
Governor Pritzker said the cuts hurt every resident of Illinois.
'Cutting funds for these programs is a slap in the face to Illinois farmers and the communities they feed,' said Pritzker. 'The Trump Administration's refusal to release grant fundsdoesn't just hurt farmers in the program, it devastates our most vulnerable, food-insecurecommunities relying on meat, fresh produce and other nutritious donations.'
The USDA ceased reimbursements for LFPA and RFSI without explanation on January 19th.
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