End of USDA funding for fresh local produce hits Grainger County Schools
RUTLEDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — Two federal food assistance programs now canceled by the US Department of Agriculture are leaving school systems concerned for their school lunches.
The Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Programs helped food pantries and schools to buy fresh produce from nearby farms. A statement from the USDA to The Hill said the programs were canceled because they 'no longer effectuate the goals of the agency.'
USDA halts more than $1B in funding for local food banks, schools
Grainger County Schools is among the districts impacted by the cut. Nutrition supervisor Tammy Edde said they have more than one USDA assistance program at their schools. She said while they are still offering their Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP program, which gives students two free meals a day. Axing their local Food for Schools Program could impact CEP.
'Us being the agricultural community, we should be serving those Grainger County tomatoes in our schools, and this gave us the opportunity to do that,' said Edde.
With the rising cost of groceries, Edde said working with local farmers helped the school tremendously – not only by providing student's fresh produce but also keeping the cost for school lunches down.
'It's just the fact that we need the money. We need the money to pay for this food and give kids good quality meals,' she said.
Edde said they were awarded $75,000 in 2024 from the Local Food for Schools Program, and no longer receiving that money may put their CEP program in jeopardy.
'We were really counting on the food for farmers for next year because we were told at the beginning of the school year that it was still in place, they had the money budgeted for it. It was – that was a shocker. I really, really hate it,' she said.
With the local food for schools cut coming as such a surprise, she said she is unsure where that leaves CEP.
'When we started that, our participation skyrocketed,' she said, 'That's going to be devastating if we have to go back where students have to pay for their lunch, that's going to be extremely devastating.'
In the meantime, she said they will need to cut back on the fresh produce they offer in the cafeteria.
▶ See more top stories on WATE.com
'It's going to be tight, we're going to have to cut down on the variety of what we serve, just pulling in the reins a little bit,' said Edde.
While the local food for schools' program was yearly, the CEP program still has three years left in their contract. Edde said despite losing the federal funding, they still plan to work with local farmers for their school lunches.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New Tennessee law criminalizes AI technology for child pornography creation
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Beginning on July 1, 2025, it will be a crime in Tennessee to create or share technology specifically designed to create or facilitate the creation of AI-generated child pornography. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston), was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee on April 24, and it will take effect on July 1. The law makes it a felony to 'knowingly possess, distribute, or produce any software or technology specifically designed to create or facilitate the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.' Possession will be a Class E felony, distribution will be a Class C felony and production will be a Class B felony. Locals, tourists recall major Gatlinburg crash that injured seven 'When in the wrong hands, artificial intelligence has the ability to make exploitive crimes even worse,' said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch. 'I applaud the General Assembly and Governor Lee for seeing the value in strengthening our state's laws to better protect Tennesseans, and I'm proud our state is leading the way on common sense measures to ensure this emerging technology doesn't become a dangerous tool for bad actors.' Yager said the goal of the bill was to combat the rise of AI-generated child pornography while preserving legitimate AI applications. A release from his office explained that the legislation does not broadly ban AI, but targets tools with the intent to generate child pornography. The senator worked with the TBI to create the legislation. 'This law is about keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology to protect our children from unthinkable exploitation,' said Yager. 'Bad actors are using AI to create disturbing and abusive content, and Tennessee is taking a strong stand to stop it. By criminalizing the tools used to generate AI child pornography, we're giving law enforcement what they need to pursue offenders and protect victims.' What state laws protect kids against AI-generated deepfakes? This is not the first law in Tennessee targeting AI and child pornography. In 2024, the state added AI-generated images to the state's anti-child pornography laws. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tellico Plains families fighting to regain full access to historic cemetery
TELLICO PLAINS, Tenn. (WATE) — Several families in Tellico Plains have had to go to court to keep a cemetery gate from being locked. The historic cemetery borders the Cherokee National Forest in Monroe County. There are a lot of people buried at the Holly Springs DeHart Cemetery, which is about a 20-minute drive south of Tellico Plains. Folks who have family at the cemetery are upset that they were denied access for a while. Teresa Crowder, Shirley Woods, and Brittany Brannon have been visiting the Holly Springs DeHart Cemetery for years. Each has relatives at the historic graveyard. 'I have been coming since I was a little girl. I remember staying out here for hours with my grandparents,' said Brannon. 'My parents, my grandparents, my great grandparents. Aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, they are here,' Woods added. New hotel could be coming to Morristown, city council considers height restrictions There are several hundred headstones at the cemetery, some of the oldest dating back to the Prock family, who first settled in Monroe County nearly 200 years ago. Recently, a fence was put up by Richard Rogers at the cemetery entrance. Rogers bought property next to the graveyard and built a garage. To get to his RV, Rogers uses the cemetery entrance. But, he attached a sign to the fence restricting visiting hours to one Sunday a week for just four hours. He's also blocked the only exit to the cemetery. 'This is a historical cemetery. It should never ever be closed, never. My great-grandparents, I have one set here, another set here. My daddy is over here, he's got seven brothers and sisters buried right down there,' said Rita Burnette. 'We do spend a lot of time here. Family means everything,' said Brannon. For a few days last week, the fence was locked and no one could enter. 'A judge signed off on where he can't close it again. But he still has the exit coming down from the cemetery blocked with logs,' said Brannon. Locals, tourists recall major Gatlinburg crash that injured seven The logs blocking the exit have been a big inconvenience for more than a year. On Memorial Day, dozens of families came to visit their loved ones. 'I've been here and they would be all the way up this hill, coming in from the main road all the way down through here. The cars would be lined up. We cannot go the exit out of here,' said Woods. 'We have to turn around, and it's very hard to turn around.' 'It's caused me a lot of stress. It's caused everybody stress. My mom is 81 years old, I'm not going to have her walk from the road,' said Teresa Crowder. Marine veteran Richard Rogers greeted us warmly as we asked him about the gate he put up and the logs that block the cemetery exit. 'Well, I've been getting shot at by a couple of neighbors and harassed. But that's all I'm going to say because right now it is litigation,' Rogers. He claimed that he was being harassed and shot at by neighbors. He specifically said that a man named Don Lee was harassing him. 'He came up and criminally trespassed on my property again,' Rogers said. 'It's been repeated.' 'Don't hire him' Customers out thousands after contractor leaves jobs unfinished Lee refuted Rogers' claim, saying that it was not true and the claim was because he was taking Rogers to court. 'Because I'm taking him to court over this road, and he's sore about that,' said Lee. Families want to see the gate and logs removed permanently to enable them full access to the cemetery every day of the week. Families who filed the lawsuit against Rogers told us they'll be back in court in two months, fighting to have the gate and logs removed. Gates around cemeteries serve several purposes, including defining boundaries, deterring trespassing and vandalism, and maintaining the sanctity of the grounds. But for years, there had never been a gate at the Holly Springs DeHart Cemetery, and families say they don't see a purpose for one. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Egg prices fell for the first time in months. Will they get any cheaper?
U.S. egg prices fell in April for the first time in months but remain high as a dozen Grade A eggs are still running consumers $5.12 on average. The overall cost of eggs dropped 12.7% last month, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index. The drop represents the first month-to-month decline since October 2024. The series of price hikes over the last few months were related to the long-standing bird flu outbreak that impacted American poultry farms and egg-laying hens. The average price for a dozen Grade A eggs hit a record $6.23 in March. "Considering that we were at record level prices just a couple of months ago, I think this is a pretty big move," said Bernt Nelson, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation. "We can't say that it'll necessarily stay this way, but for the near term, this is great." Nelson attributes much of the price decrease due to farmers' collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to implement biosecurity, or measures taken to prevent the spread of bird flu, at their farms. Eylem Senyuz, a senior investment strategy analyst at Truist said prices are down also because U.S. sellers are importing a higher number of eggs. Declining costs for energy and feed needed to heat and care for chickens also contribute to the decline, he said. Changes in consumer behavior can also affect prices. If a dozen eggs costs $6 and you're used to paying $2, you may stop buying eggs altogether, resulting in less demand and eventually lower prices, Senyuz said. White House spokesperson Kush Desai celebrated the decline in a statement on May 13, touting other news from the CPI report, which also showed cooling inflation. 'The CPI report shows that the American people are experiencing real economic relief: grocery, gas, and egg prices are down, while real wages are up," Desai said. "President Trump's America First policies created a historic economy in his first term, and he's laying the groundwork to repeat the success in his second term.' But are lower egg prices temporary, or are they going to stick? More: Egg prices are up. Is raising backyard chickens a better deal? In April, the USDA still anticipated a significant rise in egg prices this year, predicting an increase as high as 54.6% in 2025. Nelson said the USDA's prediction is partially based on an assumption that farmers will continue to struggle with bird flu. However, "If things stay calm like they are now, we have a relatively low case load and that stronger biosecurity does its job and starts showing some success, we might see egg prices stay down," he said. Multiple other factors, including the rate of production will affect the price of eggs over the next few months. Even a peace-deal between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world's major grain producers could change egg prices for U.S. consumers, Senyuz said, because it could lower the cost of feed for chickens. "By just looking at input prices, energy and agriculture, and the import process that has started, if I had to guess what the next month's number should be, it should be lower rather than higher," Senyuz said. Ellen Kan, a partner at Simon-Kucher, said it's hard to tell where egg prices will be a few months from now because while there has been an effort to build back domestic supply, the sizes of egg-laying flocks are still significantly smaller than they were before bird flu outbreaks. She said the supply chain is not "meaningfully protected" in any way different from six months ago. "We are still subject to any sort of volatility or major shocks to the supply system if there is another big outbreak," Kan said. "So, I'm not sure the solve is sustainable. We could get lucky and it could stick, but who knows?" Changing tariff policy also adds to price uncertainty. High tariffs on eggs or anything that affects their production would likely mean cost increases, according to Senyuz and Kan. Grocery prices overall dropped 0.4% in April, nearly offsetting a 0.5% rise the month prior. Other breakfast essentials also fell, with the price of cereal falling 2.5% and the cost of bacon declining 1%. Other food staples did get pricier, including bread, which rose 1.6% and fresh fish and seafood, which increased 0.8%. While the cost of groceries, on average, declined, the report found the price of dining out got more expensive and is up about 4% from the past year. The price of food away from home rose 0.4% in April, marking the third consecutive monthly uptick. Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@ and follow her on X @rachelbarber_ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Egg prices dropped in April. Is the decline temporary? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
