Latest news with #LocalFoodPurchaseAssistanceCooperativeAgreementProgram
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Mark Cuban predicts painful red rural recession — here are 4 states he says should brace for economic fallout
Billionaire entrepreneur and Shark Tank co-host Mark Cuban is warning of tough times ahead for people of rural America , as per a report. In a recent post on the social media platform BlueSky, Cuban predicted what he's calling a 'Red Rural Recession', which is a looming economic downturn he believes will hit Republican-leaning rural states the hardest if US president Donald Trump's federal budget cuts continue, according to GobankingRates report. Mark Cuban's Warning According to Cuban, the small towns are being disproportionately impacted by 'firings, cancelling of grants and contracts with companies, the closing of offices,' quoted GoBankingRates report. His warning comes amid growing concern that budget cuts coming through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may be affecting the people that voted for Trump to come back to power. ALSO READ: Dutch government collapses - 10 points you need to know Here are four states Cuban says are especially vulnerable to the fallout, as compiled by GobaningRates: Live Events 1. West Virginia This state relies heavily on federal support, almost half of its annual budget comes from Washington, as per the report. But this year, the Trump administration slashed $500 million in funding for food banks that was supposed to come through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, as per a Reuters report. According to GobankingRates, a big government spending bill passed in March also left West Virginia without about $109 million in funds that were sought by the state's congressional delegation. 2. Leavenworth, Kansas The state is going through a similar condition once again, as Kansas took a major hit during Trump's previous trade war, and now a $750,000 federal agricultural grant meant to support farm expansion is reportedly stalled, according to the Washington Post. To make matters worse, the administration has reduced $1 billion from two key programs that helped supply locally sourced produce and meat to schools and food banks across the country, reported GoBankingRates report. 3. Pennsylvania According to the report, much of Pennsylvania is rural, especially in the western and southwestern regions. These areas have been impacted by cancelled federal funding as the Environmental Protection Agency pulled at least $2 million in grants meant for community-based efforts like air and water quality monitoring and food security initiatives, according to Axios. 4. Kentucky Kentucky also gets close to half of its annual budget from federal dollars, as per Reuters. But the proposed federal budget cuts will hamper many programs like SNAP and Medicaid, plus environmental and clean energy funding, that are important to rural counties, reported GoBankingRates. FAQs What is the " Red Rural Recession " Mark Cuban is talking about? It's a term Cuban is using to describe a potential economic downturn in rural, Republican-leaning areas if Trump's government budget cuts continue. Why does Cuban think rural towns are at risk? He says small towns are being hit with job losses, canceled grants, and office closures, making life harder for already struggling communities.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Cuban Warns of ‘Red Rural Recession' — 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard
Billionaire and Shark Tank co-host Mark Cuban recently shared on social media platform BlueSky that there will be a 'Red Rural Recession' soon — his term for what could happen to rural, Republican-leaning states if President Donald Trump's government budget cuts continue. Read More: Find Out: Cuban claims that small towns are being disproportionately impacted by 'firings, cancelling of grants and contracts with companies, the closing of offices.' Here are four states that could be the most affected by DOGE budget cuts: Small agricultural businesses are struggling and waiting for grant funds that have supported them for decades. According to Reuters, West Virginia receives nearly half of its annual budget from federal dollars, but Trump cut $500 million this year to food banks that was due to be provided through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. Furthermore, a major government spending bill enacted on March 15 has led to West Virginia organizations not getting almost $109 million in funds that were sought by the state's congressional delegation. Kansas was one of the hardest hit states for agriculture during Trump's last trade war. A $750,000 federal agricultural grant is currently disrupting farm expansion plans, the Washington Post reported. The Trump Administration also abruptly cut $1 billion from two programs that supplied local produce and meat to schools and food banks across the country. Western and southwestern Pennsylvania are largely rural. The Environmental Protection Agency canceled at least $2 million in grants in the southwestern area of the state, per Axios. These funds were intended for community-led efforts such as air and water quality monitoring and food security. Kentucky receives nearly half of its annual budget from federal dollars, noted Reuters. Proposed federal budget cuts threaten many programs, including SNAP and Medicaid, plus environmental and clean energy funding, that are integral to rural counties. More From GOBankingRates The New Retirement Problem Boomers Are Facing This article originally appeared on Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' — 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard
Miami Herald
30-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
A federal program sent local farmers' fresh produce to food banks. It's being cut
Stew — a big pot of it — with onions, potatoes and bell peppers. Maybe a little bit of meat, if they're lucky, Jackie Brown muttered, chewing over potential dinner ideas for her family as she surveyed the produce refrigerator at the Feeding South Florida food bank in Pembroke Park on a recent afternoon. She was planning a week of meals for herself and the five grandchildren she's raising, all big eaters, and needed something hearty that would also yield leftovers. Brown, 59, is one of the 1.2 million South Floridians who relied on Feeding South Florida, the region's largest food bank, last year to supplement their groceries. As rising costs of living have nudged more locals into greater financial precariousness and closer to hunger, the organization reported that nearly two in 10 South Floridians turned to it last year for food. But recent federal funding cuts mean Feeding South Florida's budget is about to shrink by more than 30%. As part of its push to reduce federal spending, the Trump administration shuttered the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), a $900 million initiative started in 2021 to help food banks purchase produce from local farmers. In doing so, it lopped $13.5 million — nearly all of the food bank's federal funding — from Feeding South Florida's budget. That means fewer vegetables on the table for families like Brown's, and fewer orders for the farmers who grow them. ▪ ▪ ▪ Particularly toward the end of the month, Brown relies on food banks like Feeding South Florida to put meals on the table. 'That's what I use the food bank for,' she said, 'to fill in that last week of the month before I get more [food stamp] assistance.' Like many across the country, and especially in South Florida, her household has felt the squeeze of rising prices. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows grocery prices have jumped roughly 30% since 2020. Over the same period of time, Miami-Dade's rate of food insecurity — people who don't have enough to eat — has spiked by 50%. On any given day, roughly 400,000 Miamians, 15% of the county's population, don't know where their next meal will come from. Compounding that vulnerability are proposed major cuts to federal spending on food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, on which nearly 3 million Floridians, including Brown and her five grandchildren, rely. For Brown's family and others that are either food insecure or close to it, food banks have become especially important for ensuring access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The local produce purchase program is largely to thank. Feeding South Florida estimates that nearly half of its produce is purchased with money from the program. Without the funding, the food bank told the Miami Herald it anticipates 'a reduction in both the volume and variety of fresh foods available' at its food banks and that its 'capacity to provide nutritious food will be significantly affected.' Robin Safley, the CEO of Feeding South Florida's umbrella organization, Feeding Florida, emphasized the economic importance of guaranteeing access to healthy, fresh food. Those served by her organization's affiliate food banks disproportionately deal with chronic health issues, including diabetes, said Safley. 'Many of them are also on Medicaid,' she noted, 'so those chronic conditions can really drive up the cost of health care.' Healthy eating plays a critical role in mitigating those costs, she added. But beyond those health impacts, Safley pointed out that the program has given local farmers more opportunities to sell produce in their home communities. ▪ ▪ ▪ At his farm in Palm Beach County earlier this month, J.D. Poole shouted over the sound of water raining from pipes affixed to the ceiling, cooling boxes of freshly picked corn below. A third-generation farmer from Belle Glade, Poole co-founded Scotlynn Sweet-Pac Growers in 2012. Still based in Belle Glade, the company plants, harvests and ships thousands of acres of sweet corn, pumpkins, cabbage, watermelon and asparagus each year. Thanks to the federal food purchase initiative, from which Florida received and dispersed more than $20 million to food banks last year, Feeding South Florida has been a major buyer from Poole. He estimates his farm sends more than 1 million pounds of produce each year down to the food bank, which purchases those orders with money from the program. Poole said the arrangement accounts for roughly 10% of Sweet-Pac Growers' annual revenue. The program was particularly helpful for selling perfectly good produce that grocery stores wouldn't buy because of slight aesthetic imperfections, he added. 'Rather than walk away and take a huge financial loss' on those vegetables, the program helped his business recoup planting investments that otherwise would've been lost, while at the same time 'providing really good, fresh food at a reasonable cost to the needy.' If not for the program, that produce would've been thrown out. That's what will likely happen now. He was grateful to provide for those in need, but Poole says he can't afford to harvest, process, package and ship his produce to food banks on his own dime. He hopes the president will reconsider the program's termination. A Trump voter, Poole is generally content with the administration thus far. And he backs Trump and the Department of Governmental Efficiency's (DOGE) purported efforts to eliminate the 'fluff' in government spending. But, he said, this initiative is not fluff. 'It's a very needed program.' Poole is far from alone in the agriculture community in his assessment. Aaron Shier, the government relations director at the National Farmers Union, a D.C.-based advocacy group, said the program has been important for many community farmers and strengthened local food supply chains, all while feeding people in need. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Florida Democrat who sits on the House Appropriations Committee's agriculture subcommittee, described the program as a 'win-win for our local farmers and for families in need.' Its cancellation is a 'gut punch,' she told the Herald, especially for small farmers and food-insecure people. People like Brown. The grandmother's disability benefits and SNAP assistance alone aren't enough for her to provide for her dependent grandchildren, whose mother died and whose father isn't in the picture. But Brown, turning to her friend Lathoya Bennett, said she feels lucky. 'Lots of people, lots of homeless people, can't even get here to get [this food]. We really need more of this.' Bennett nodded as she looked over the piles of carrots and onions: 'This is really a blessing.' This story was produced with financial support from supporters including The Green Family Foundation Trust and Ken O'Keefe, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Second Harvest Food Bank loses 1 million pounds of food due to federal cuts
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A food bank in the Piedmont Triad is down on food donations due to federal cuts. 'Across 18 counties, including 332 food pantries. We're providing about 80% of the food they receive. The fact that we're going to get 1 million pounds less will impact what we get to them, which means those pantries will have less to provide to our neighbors in need,' Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina CEO Eric Aft said. Aft said the reason why nearly 1 million pounds of food is gone is because the Trump administration got rid of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program. 'The Commodity Credit Corporation funding, which is part of the federal commodities that we receive, was cut back in March,' Aft said. Aft said CCC funding made up for one-third of the food they provide. That's not the only federal funding the food bank has lost. Earlier this year, they also lost funding from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. 'That was approved back in October, but the administration said that would not continue. That is $2 million that we will not be receiving to purchase goods from area farmers,' Aft said. It's a loss that Aft said has not only hurt the food bank but will ultimately hurt thousands of food-insecure North Carolinians as well. 'There are sleepless nights. I had one last night. We're thinking about what are we going to do to respond to the need right now. That's just how we're existing,' Aft said. Aft said to make up for the nearly 1 million pounds of food, they're leaning on food drives, donations from viewers and grocery retailers Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New York's food banks brace for triple whammy of federal cuts, tariffs and even higher costs
A tiny storefront in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, has been a lifeline for Marco Ramirez and his family of four. Three years ago, the 56-year-old began visiting the food pantry operated by Reaching-Out Community Services after his hours as a restaurant cook were cut. Every two weeks, he stops by to select items from a computer kiosk and waits for staff to wheel out his order, free of charge. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Ramirez packed his bags with staples like rice, meat, cooking oil and juice. Without the pantry's help, he said, his family wouldn't be able to afford pricey items like eggs. The pantry is part of a vast network supported by the Food Bank for New York City, which recently lost 75 tractor trailer loads of food — 2.5 million meals — due to cancelled shipments from the US Department of Agriculture following President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of over $1 billion in nutrition funding in March. 'We're the country's largest USDA-supplied food bank, and anytime there's a cut or a rollback or a pause, the impact to us is that much more exponential,' said president Leslie Gordon. The organization serves the New York City area, where a recent study estimated the poverty rate hit a new high of 25 percent. For food banks across New York state, the state of emergency that began with the pandemic in 2020 never ended. Already stretched thin from years of rising food costs and food insecurity, hunger relief organizations are now contending with a panoply of federal cuts and tariffs, which are expected to severely disrupt supply chains and further hike prices. Headlines about steep declines in port activity have renewed fears that shelves nationwide could go empty in a matter of weeks. Trump's cuts have derailed programs like the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which allowed food banks to purchase food from local farms, and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which ships food directly to banks and helps cover operational costs. In recent years, the USDA has expanded TEFAP to meet increased demand from more Americans turning to pantries to stay afloat. New York's newly passed state budget provided little relief. For months, advocates had urged Governor Kathy Hochul to join the legislature in increasing funding for two state-run hunger programs as a way to cushion the blow of federal cuts. But funding for both programs remained largely unchanged in the final deal released last week. Nourish New York will see a modest increase of $750,000 for a total of $55 million, while the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program will remain flat at $57.8 million. The legislature had proposed funding the programs at $75 million each. In the wake of federal cuts, the Regional Food Bank will distribute 2 million less meals across 23 eastern New York counties, which span from just north of Westchester to the Canadian border — after opening a new 50,000-square-foot distribution center in Montgomery in December. 'These cuts mean families going hungry; kids, veterans, and seniors going hungry, and farmers going out of business,' said Congressman Pat Ryan after visiting the food bank last month. 'Trump needs to put country before politics, reverse these cuts immediately, and restore the food shipments to put money back in our farmers' pockets and nutritious meals back on Hudson Valley families' tables.' Over 16 million pounds of food across the state will no longer be distributed due to federal cuts, according to Ryan Healy, advocacy manager of Feeding New York State, which represents 10 food banks across the state, including the ones interviewed for this story. 'Not only is the impact of these cuts felt by our food banks and community partners, it's felt by the farmers and agricultural producers,' Healy said. In addition to USDA shipments, eight of the network's food banks received LFPA funding, which has been a boon to local farms across the state. 'We had about a million pounds of food that were cancelled that we were expected to be distributing right about now,' said Ryan Brisk, vice president of operations and procurement at Feeding Westchester. 'A million pounds is 25 tractor trailer loads of food.' That particular shipment included what Brisk called the 'most highly coveted items' sought by food pantry users, like fresh produce and frozen meat. TEFAP shipments have accounted for a quarter of the organization's food supply. In 2024, Feeding Westchester saw an average of 229,000 visits each month, including 80,000 children and 36,000 seniors. Many visits come from families where adults work multiple jobs, as well as veterans and seniors living on fixed incomes, Brisk said. That need has not tapered off since the onset of Covid-19: 'It was the pandemic passing the torch to inflation.' In Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk counties, Island Harvest has doubled the amount of food it distributes since 2019. 'The need for emergency food is greater now than it was during the pandemic,' said Gregory May, director of government and community relations. 'The trends are really going in the wrong direction.' Island Harvest relies heavily on donated food, which makes up roughly 75 percent of its stock. May worries whether those donations will continue as businesses feel the crunch of a tightening economy. The situation could become even more grim if the federal government moves forward with cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP), also known as food stamps, May said. Congressional Republicans are now considering a drastic overhaul of the program as a way to partially cover another round of Trump tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. 'I don't think a lot of people realize how connected they are to the emergency food system,' May said. 'A cut to one program is really a cut to every program.' Staff at FeedMore Western New York are still trying to make sense of how a variety of cuts — TEFAP, LFPA, and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has also been paused — will impact their bottom line. Feedmore serves Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua counties. 'We are being impacted in every way you can imagine by decisions being made by the federal government,' said public relations manager Catherine Shick. Last year, the organization received nearly $15 million in federal support to operate its food bank network, provide SNAP outreach, deliver meals to the homebound, and supply community kitchens. FeedMore has increased the number of people it serves by 46 percent since 2021. Tariffs add yet another 'unknown' that FeedMore has to monitor, with some vendors warning of potential food price increases, Shick said. Inflation was cited as a top affordability concern for Billi-Jo Mendez, a first-time pantry user in Brooklyn who was next in line to Ramirez on Wednesday. 'In all my years, I've never come to a pantry,' said Mendez, 52. 'I came for extra help.' Mendez said she and her husband have been making do on their own, but recently received custody of their three grandchildren. Her basket included sacks of apples and carrots, as well as cereal and baked chips for the kids. 'It's so sad,' Mendez said of federal cuts. 'A lot of people are going to go hungry without assistance from a program like this.' Gordon at Food Bank for New York City said it's too soon to tell exactly what impact tariffs will have, but the the current situation is unlike past 'rough patches.' 'There's a lack of predictability that is causing things to be more upended than they have been before,' Gordon said. 'We definitely have not seen this convergence of external factors to this degree, and all at once, impacting the good work we're trying to do for people who need us.'
