Tennessee students, farmers bear impact of USDA cuts to local food programs for schools, food banks

Yahoo

17-03-2025

The USDA has scrapped two local food purchase programs, canceling federal funding that would have been used by Tennessee schools and food banks to purchase fresh food from local producers. (Photo:John Partipilo)
Tennessee students will have less access to locally grown foods and Tennessee farmers will lose out on millions of dollars in purchases after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut two programs funding local foods for schools and food banks.
The USDA announced around $1 billion in cuts last week due to the cancellation of the Local Food for Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Program. The cuts come amid efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to slash the federal budget.
The decision reverses an December announcement from the USDA pledging a $1.13 billion investment to continue the programs — which were originally created to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic — into 2025.
About $660 million intended to allow schools and child care institutions throughout the nation to purchase locally produced food has been scrapped, according to the School Nutrition Association. Another $500 million would have supported local food purchases for food banks nationwide.
The Tennessee Department of Education received more than $4.1 million to purchase food from local producers for schools in 2023, according to USDA records. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture was awarded $8.2 million for the LFPA program — money that was used by five Tennessee food banks to buy food from 247 local producers, 142 of which were classified as underserved producers. The USDA defines underserved producers as beginning farmers, veterans, socially disadvantaged farmers and farmers with limited resources (incomes at or below the poverty line or 50% of their area's median income).
When the Tennessee Department of Agriculture missed deadlines to claim $7.2 million for the LFPA program the next year, outcry from constituents led state lawmakers to carve out an equal amount of unspent American Rescue Plan funds from the annual budget to create the 'Farm to Food Banks' program to fill the gap.
Federal funding for the programs for fiscal year 2025 is no longer available and agreements will be terminated after a 60-day notification period, the USDA told participating states, territories and tribes.
We're going to continue to feed the kids, but we will not be able to give them the quality of food that we've been giving.
– Vickie Dunaway, Milan Special School District Food Service Supervisor
Tennessee's agriculture department TDA intended to participate in LFPA25 but had not yet signed any contracts, department Public Information Officer Kim Doddridge confirmed.
'This isn't an abrupt shift — just last week, USDA released over half a billion in previously obligated funds for LFPA and LFS to fulfill existing commitments and support ongoing local food purchases,' a USDA spokesperson wrote in an email to Tennessee Lookout.
Agreements that were already in place under the LFPA/LFPA Plus program will continue to receive funds until the USDA sunsets the program at the end of the performance period. The USDA will focus on its 16 other nutrition programs instead.
'The COVID era is over — USDA's approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,' the spokesperson stated.
Tennessee Department of Education Media Director Brian Blackley wrote in a statement to Tennessee Lookout that the end of the Local Food for Schools program 'will not impact our ability to ensure that Tennessee's most vulnerable children are fed at school.'
Doddridge said farmers across the state may be impacted by reduction in 'available current funding' due to the LFPA25 cancellation. She directed farmers to the TDA and USDA websites for resources.
'TDA will continue collaborating with partners to leverage funding opportunities to help support local farmers and communities now and in the future,' Doddridge wrote.
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But while the USDA and the Tennessee Department of Education view the programs as 'extraordinary' support during the COVID-19 pandemic, local farmers, food banks and school nutrition officials say the funding cuts will be keenly felt in both food quality and community economies.
Milan Special School District Food Service Supervisor Vickie Dunaway said Friday said she views the cuts as 'going backwards,' moving away from feeding kids fresh foods and returning to processed foods that are less healthy but more affordable.
'I don't think that it's a pandemic thing at all,' Dunaway said. 'I think it's just a matter of moving forward and educating our kids and communities on the proper way of eating.'
Dunaway used Local Food for Schools funding to help pay for school lunches and summer meals. Last year, the Milan Special School District fed students more than 132,000 lunches during the school year and more than 30,800 meals during summer months.
The funding allowed her to partner with a local stockyard to get minimally processed local beef delivered directly to the district. She contracted with local farmers to raise broccoli, purple whole peas, tomatoes, corn and melons specifically for the schools.
'That will obviously have to be cut out, because our budget will not withstand being able to purchase local,' she said. 'Purchasing local, minimally processed food is way more expensive than buying from a distributor.'
But with that higher price tag comes significant benefits: the food is healthier, local farmers and communities receive more support and kids get to see where their food comes from, Dunaway said. Over the summer, her district sent kids home with recipes and whole foods like cabbages, melons or fresh corn on the cob.
'We're going to continue to feed the kids, but we will not be able to give them the quality of food that we've been giving,' Dunaway said.
Jeff Letson owns Hitman Smoked Products, a bacon producer in Clifton, Tennessee. He worked with Mid South Food Bank last year, and is now on his second quarter of purchase orders with Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville.
When the LFPA program started, his company went from processing 500 pounds of bacon each week to 2,500 pounds. He went from having three employees to 10.
The program's cancellation meant he had to cut his workforce by half. The consequences are felt by everyone who benefited from the program, not just farmers, Letson said.
'Even though that's a small amount of jobs, Clifton, Tennessee is a small community, and it impacts us,' he said. 'There's five more people out looking for a job.'
Letson has contacted Tennessee U.S. Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn about the program cut.
'I do believe in a lot of the Department of Government Efficiency efforts — I think we will all benefit from that in some way — but you just can't do that with a shotgun approach on everything,' he said. 'I hope that there's some of these (cuts) that people can contact their senators and congressmen about and say, 'Here's one that you really need to go back and look at. It's worthwhile.''
Tennessee's agriculture department acknowledged farmers may be impacted by the funding cut, but the department will continue working to support local farmers, Doddridge said.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee CEO Nancy Keil said in a statement that news of the cut is 'devastating news for the five Tennessee Food Banks serving our state.'
Second Harvest has been and will continue to implement the 'Farm to Food Banks' program funded by Tennessee lawmakers last year after the state's LFPA application bungle. But LFPA25 would have provided federal funding to extend the program, allowing Tennessee food banks to continue purchasing fresh produce, proteins, and dairy from local farmers, Keil stated.
She refers to the program as a 'proven win-win.'
'It supports our food-insecure neighbors, sustains local farmers, and boosts the Tennessee economy across all 95 counties,' she wrote. 'The loss of this $7.7 million funding to support the program is a significant missed opportunity. It impacts the most essential part of our food system — connecting food banks with local growers to provide nutritious food to communities in need.'
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