After losing millions in federal cuts, North Texas food banks must now rely on donors
The Tarrant Area Food Bank is turning to local support now that it faces a combined deficit of $4.2 million due to the ending of federal food-assistance programs. That equates to 2.5 million meals for families across North Texas.
The nonprofit acts as a regional clearinghouse for donated food serving Fort Worth and 13 surrounding counties. It is responsible for distributing a mix of fresh, frozen and shelf-stable products to a network of hunger-relief charities and social services organizations.
The Trump administration is freezing over $1 billion in pandemic-era spending for schools and food banks, six months before the programs were scheduled to end. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced March 10 that it is cutting the initiatives.
The programs cut were Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, which help schools and food banks pay for food sourced from local farmers, respectively.
Julie Butner, president and CEO of Tarrant Area Food Bank, said the organization has been able to maintain balanced supply and distribution through the local food purchase agreement. The food bank also received supplemental food purchasing assistance from the Commodity Credit Corp., the government agency created to protect farm income and prices.
These services, which help make up 30% of the food bank's purchasing budget, have been axed.
According to a USDA spokesperson, the programs are being cut in an effort to bring nutrition programs out of 'the COVID era.'
'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 spokesperson said. 'Unlike the Biden Administration, which funneled billions in (Commodity Credit Corp.) funds into short-term programs with no plan for longevity, USDA is prioritizing stable, proven solutions that deliver lasting impact.'
It's unclear when exactly the government funding will end. The USDA notified states that the assistance is no longer available and those programs will be terminated following 60-day notification, though the notification date was not provided.
Butner said the Tarrant Area Food Bank was notified March 14 by Feeding Texas, a statewide hunger-relief network, but has not been told when to expect the programs to end.
The USDA spokesperson said the funds are being redirected to 'fulfill existing commitments and support ongoing local food purchases.'
The spokesperson did not further specify where the funds were redirected to.
Without the government aid that Tarrant Area Food Bank relied on to purchase fresh goods from local farmers, donations and support from the community will make up nearly all of the group's food purchasing budget. Butner said she is hopeful the nonprofit's donors and private supporters will bridge the gap until September, when Congress sets the budget for next year.
The Tarrant Area Food Bank is pushing for a strong Farm Bill when the 2018 Farm Bill is set to expire in September.
The Farm Bill, officially named the Agriculture Improvement Act, is a comprehensive bill passed every five to six years that acts as the primary agricultural and food policy instrument for the federal government.
Butner said she is concerned any time the Farm Bill is up for discussion on Capitol Hill, but especially now with major federal food-purchasing programs set to expire six months before planned.
Tarrant Area Food Bank is partnered with Feeding America and Feeding Texas in advocating for two main points in the new bill: continued investment in local and regional food systems while continuing the partnership between the food bank and U.S. agriculture; and support for key programs which help offset food costs for low-income households.
The second point is pertinent to ensuring food-insecure families are properly nourished, Butner said. As food costs rise, low-income households will have to decide whether to spend more of their budget on food or other necessities like rent or gas for the car.
'Oftentimes food is the easier thing to forgo,' Butner said. 'You can skip a meal a day. You can skip multiple meals in a week. It's not healthy, but it's better than being evicted from your home, if you're not able to pay your rent, or having your electricity or water bill cut off, if you're not able to pay those bills.'
Programs that would aid in offsetting food costs include the Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for Seniors and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
In Tarrant County, nearly 10% of households receive help through SNAP, about 4 percentage points higher than the national average, according to the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
Crowds & Police Clash In NYC, Chicago As Protests Spread - CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip - Podcast on CNN Audio
Crowds & Police Clash In NYC, Chicago As Protests Spread CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip 48 mins As Los Angeles enters its fifth day of unrest, a curfew has been declared from 8pm to 6am local time and will cover one square mile of the entire Los Angeles area. President Trump has mobilized 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city to quell the demonstrations against his immigration raids.


New York Times
12 minutes ago
- New York Times
Armed National Guard Troops Aid Immigration Agents on Raids in Los Angeles
Armed National Guard troops mobilized by President Trump accompanied federal immigration enforcement officers on raids in Los Angeles on Tuesday, a move that the state of California has called unlawful and inflammatory. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Tuesday evening that the National Guard was accompanying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on their operations. The Trump administration deployed nearly 5,000 National Guard troops and Marines to the Los Angeles area to stop protests. The deployment enraged officials in California, who filed lawsuits asking the court to intervene in what they called was illegal and provocative. Earlier in the evening, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a photo of what appeared to be military personnel with rifles standing with ICE officers on social media. 'This We'll Defend,' he wrote. ICE also posted images on social media of officers detaining individuals while being surrounded by National Guard members who could be identified by the insignia on their uniforms. A federal judge in California set a hearing for Thursday afternoon on the state's request to restrict the federal government's use of military personnel in Los Angeles in law enforcement, limiting them only to protecting federal property. The state also demanded an emergency order by Tuesday afternoon declaring that the Marines and other troops could not accompany immigration agents on raids or perform other law enforcement activities, such as operating checkpoints. The judge, Charles S. Breyer, declined to meet the deadline.


Hamilton Spectator
13 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Los Angeles leaders impose curfew as protests against Trump's immigration crackdown continue
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles leaders set a downtown curfew Tuesday on the fifth day of protests against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown as his use of the National Guard escalated and the governor accused him of drawing a 'military dragnet' across the nation's second largest city. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asked a court to put an emergency stop to the military helping federal immigration agents, with some guardsmen now standing in protection around agents as they carried out arrests. He said it would only heighten tensions and promote civil unrest. The judge chose not to rule immediately, giving the administration several days to continue those activities before a hearing Thursday. The change moves troops closer to engaging in law enforcement actions like deportations as Trump has promised as part of the administration's immigration crackdown . The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers but any arrests ultimately would be made by law enforcement. Trump has activated more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines over the objections of city and state leaders, though the Marines have not yet been spotted in Los Angeles and Guard troops have had limited engagement with protesters. They were originally deployed to protect federal buildings. As the curfew went into effect, a police helicopter flew over downtown federal buildings that have been the center of protests and ordered people to leave the area. As it approached, several groups had gathered downtown, with some saying they planned to ignore it and others chanting calls for the gathering to remain peaceful. Officials said the curfew was necessary to stop vandalism and theft by agitators looking to cause trouble. LA mayor puts curfew in place Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency and said the curfew will run from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. 'We reached a tipping point' after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said during a news conference. The curfew will be in place in a 1 square mile (2.59 square kilometer) section of downtown that includes the area where protests have occurred since Friday. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles (2,295 square kilometers). The curfew doesn't apply to residents who live in the designated area, people who are homeless, credentialed media or public safety and emergency officials, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. McDonnell said 'unlawful and dangerous behavior' had been escalating since Saturday. 'The curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,' McDonnell said. Trump says he's open to using Insurrection Act Trump left open the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S. to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. It's one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a U.S. president. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see,' he said from the Oval Office. Later the president called protesters 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' in a speech at Fort Bragg ostensibly to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth . The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated downtown in the city of 4 million. Thousands of people have peacefully rallied outside City Hall and hundreds more protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids. On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters gathered peacefully in front of the federal complex, which was quickly declared an unlawful assembly. Police issued a dispersal order and corralled the protesters, telling members of the media to stay out to avoid getting hurt. Officers with zip ties then started making arrests. McDonnell said that police had made 197 arrests on Tuesday, including 67 who were taken into custody for unlawfully occupying part of the 101 freeway. Several businesses were broken into Monday, though authorities didn't say if the looting was tied to the protests. The vast majority of arrests have been for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting, vandalism and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail. Seven police officers were reportedly injured, and at least two were taken to a hospital and released. Demonstrations have spread to other cities in the state and nationwide, including Dallas and Austin, Texas, Chicago and New York City, where a thousand people rallied and multiple arrests were made. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Tuesday that the use of troops inside the U.S. will continue to expand . The Pentagon said deploying the National Guard and Marines costs $134 million. ___ Baldor and Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Dorany Pineda and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Greg Bull in Seal Beach, California, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .