Fact Check: Trump budget cuts canceled 20 truckloads of food for Cleveland food bank

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Claim:
Budget cuts by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration caused cancellations of 20 truckloads of food while en route to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
Rating:
Context:
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank confirmed 20 truckloads of future food deliveries were canceled. We have reached out to learn more about the status of the food supplies, and whether the trucks were en route.
In late March 2025, a rumor circulating online claimed federal government budget cuts resulted in the cancellation of 20 truckloads of food while the supplies were en route to Ohio. One popular Facebook post stated:
Trump cancels 20 semi-truck loads of food deliveries en route to Ohio food bank. Each truck holds 100,000 lbs-so that's $2 million worth of food-about a week's worth for Northeast Ohio.
(Facebook user "Have a Gay Day")
Although the above post was not completely accurate, budget cuts by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump did result in the cancellation of 20 truckloads of food to an Ohio food bank. Statements from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and the mayor of Cleveland confirmed the food cuts. However, we do not know whether the trucks were stopped en route, or whether the food would be spoiled. The cancellations appeared to be deliveries intended for April to July 2025.
We reached out to the food bank, U.S. Department of Agriculture and White House to learn more details about the food supplies and will update this story if we receive more information.
On March 26, 2025, the food bank told reporters that it had learned that around 500,000 pounds of food deliveries expected between April and July 2025 had been canceled. According to the food bank, it had ordered 30 truckloads of food from the USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. Out of these, 20 were canceled, which amounted to around $1 million worth of food. The supplies included milk, eggs and meat like chicken, pork and turkey.
Jessica Semachko, the food bank's advocacy director, told WKYC, a Cleveland news station: "We were hopeful as of last week that we would see those loads come in, and we were really disappointed earlier this week when we received the notification through the system that these loads were canceled."
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb also responded to news of the cancellations:
I am deeply outraged by the Trump Administration's unjust decision to withhold 553,000 pounds of food that was intended to help Ohio families in desperate need. This egregious action not only deprives half a million individuals, including children, served by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, but it also threatens the health, safety, and well-being of our Northeast Ohio community.
There is a difference between scaling back the federal footprint and callously stripping food from families who rely on it for survival. The starkness of this distinction is so profound that it is almost unimaginable that such a decision could even be considered, let alone executed.
The food bank was to receive this food through The Emergency Food Assistance Program, run by USDA and backed by the federal fund known as the Commodity Credit Corp. According to Agri-Pulse, an agriculture and food news agency, the USDA suspended at least $500 million in funding originally intended for food banks across the country.
Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, told The New York Times that its representative asked the USDA to explain the suspended shipments. USDA said it was reviewing the food aid programs funded through the Commodity Credit Corp.
Per Agri-Pulse, Commodity Credit Corp. funds are a discretionary tool sometimes used by administrations to fund The Emergency Food Assistance Program. The first Trump administration spent around $2 billion in such food purchases.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank also will lose more food supplies through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. The federal government announced no new funds would be provided through the program for 2025. In early March 2025, a USDA spokesperson told Politico that funding for the program (which supports food purchases for schools as well) would no longer be available:
These programs, created under the former Administration via Executive authority, no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. LFPA and LFPA Plus agreements that were in place prior to LFPA 25, which still have substantial financial resources remaining, will continue to be in effect for the remainder of the period of performance.
Additionally, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's proposed state budget contained a nearly 25% reduction in the budget for food banks, amounting to around $7.5 million.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank told WKYC that it gets 46% of its food from the state of Ohio and the USDA. The food bank stated: "This disruption comes at a critical time, as need remains high and food costs continue to rise. Last year, we served more than 424,000 individuals — nearly 25% of them seeking assistance for the first time. Continued, reliable USDA food deliveries are essential to meeting this demand and supporting families across our service area and the state of Ohio."
A USDA spokesperson told Snopes:
There has been no pause in regular TEFAP purchases. The funding that was designated from CCC has been repurposed. The Biden Administration created unsustainable programming and expectations using the Commodity Credit Corporation. Regardless, USDA continues to purchase food for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), with over $166 million spent in FY 2025 to date for program requirements. USDA also is using Section 32 purchases to support TEFAP, purchasing over $300 million in various poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts. USDA recently approved an additional $261 million in Section 32 purchases to provide even more fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts to TEFAP.
We do not know whether the trucks were already en route with the supplies, or whether the food was going to go to waste. A Cleveland.com news report misattributed a quote to food bank CEO Kristin Warzocha saying that the food was spoiling. However, this was a quote from a local podcast host with "Today in Ohio" who worried that the trucks of food could be "sitting and spoiling." The report noted that the truckloads were scheduled for the future. We have reached out to the food bank to learn more about the status of the food.
One podcast host with "Today in Ohio," Chris Quinn, noted: "I've got to think that Trump himself doesn't know about this because this is too stupid for words. … Nothing drives you more than hunger."
The federal funding cuts are not just affecting Cleveland. A Bloomberg report found that food banks across the nation are bracing for smaller supplies and rising costs, as well as cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budgets.
Bovenzi, Tino. "Greater Cleveland Food Bank Faces Uncertainty Surrounding Food Deliveries from Government." Fox8, 24 Mar. 2025, https://fox8.com/news/greater-cleveland-food-bank-faces-uncertainty-surrounding-food-deliveries-from-government/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
Brown, Marcia. "USDA Cancels $1B in Local Food Purchasing for Schools, Food Banks." Politico, 10 Mar. 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/10/usda-cancels-local-food-purchasing-for-schools-food-banks-00222796. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
Davis, Miranda, and Kim Chipman. "Farmers, Food Banks Stung by US Funding Cuts While Costs Climb." Bloomberg, 25 Mar. 2025, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-25/funding-cuts-are-overloading-food-banks-while-hurting-us-farmers. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
Demirjian, Karoun, and Jesus Jiménez. "Food Banks Left in the Lurch as Some Shipments Are Suspended." The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2025. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/food-banks-usda.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
"'Too Stupid for Words': Trump Pulls Back 20 Semi Trucks of Food from Cleveland's Food Bank." Cleveland, 25 Mar. 2025, https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/03/too-stupid-for-words-trump-pulls-back-20-semi-trucks-of-food-from-clevelands-food-bank.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
"Trump Administration Cancels Order for $1 Million Worth of Food for Greater Cleveland Food Bank." Wkyc.Com, 26 Mar. 2025, https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/greater-cleveland-food-bank-president-donald-trump-cancel-usda-order-pounds-agriculture-ohio-foodbank/95-d351067b-3fca-40bb-93cf-6d58ddb67223. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
"USDA Suspends Food Bank Funding Source, Cites "unsustainable" Expectations." Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/22611-usda-suspends-food-bank-funding-source-cites-unsustainable-expectations. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.