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TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Ohio food banks strain as Trump slashes federal aid programmes
On a warm spring morning, volunteers at the Mid-Ohio Food Collective plucked cucumbers from a greenhouse where a state psychiatric hospital once stood and the land lay fallow. Now the state's largest food bank is working that ground again, part of an urgent effort to shore up supplies amid shrinking federal support, including deep funding cuts under President Donald Trump. They are planting more. Prepping soil for fruit trees, and installing hives for honey. In the greenhouse, crates of romaine and butterhead lettuce were packed for delivery, bound for a pantry across town. Back at headquarters in Grove City, staff chased leads from grocers, manufacturers, even truckers looking to unload abandoned freight. Every pallet helped. Every kilogram counted. In a state that handed Trump three straight wins, where Trump flags flap near food aid flyers pinned on bulletin boards, the cost of his austerity push is starting to show. 'Food banks will still have food,' said Mid-Ohio CEO Matt Habash. 'But with these cuts, you'll start to see a heck of a lot less food, or pantries and agencies closing. You're going to have a lot of hungry, and a lot less healthy, America.' For decades, food banks like Mid-Ohio have been the backbone of the nation's anti-hunger system, channelling government support and donations from corporations and private donors into meals and logistics to support pantries at churches, nonprofits and other organisations. If a food bank is a warehouse, food pantries are the store. Outside one of those — the Eastside Community Ministry pantry in rural Muskingum County, Ohio — Mary Dotson walked slow, cane in hand. The minute she stepped through the doors, her whole body seemed to lift. They call her Mama Mary here, as she's got the kind of voice that settles you down and straightens you out in the same breath. The regulars grin as Dotson, 77, pats shoulders, swaps recipes. She had tried to do everything right: built a career, raised five children, planned for the quiet years with her husband. But after he died and the children moved away, the life they'd built slipped out of reach. Now her monthly Social Security cheque is $1,428. She budgets $70 of that for groceries, and she gets $23 in food benefits as well. She started as a volunteer at Eastside. Simple maths convinced her to become a customer. 'I figured if I'm going to take these things,' Dotson said, 'I'm going to work here, too.' CAMPAIGN FODDER The Mid-Ohio Food Collective was born out of church basements and borrowed trucks nearly a half-century ago, when factory closures left more families hungry. It's now the state's largest food bank, feeding more than 35,000 Ohio families a week. It supplies more than 600 food pantries, soup kitchens, children and senior feeding sites, after-school programmes and other partner agencies. When Trump returned to office in January, Mid-Ohio was already slammed. Pantry visits across its 20 counties hit 1.8-million last year, nearly double pre-Covid-19 levels, and are continuing to grow this year. The biggest surge came from working people whose pay cheques no longer stretch far enough due to pandemic-era inflation under Joe Biden's presidency, staff said. Then came the Trump cuts. In March, the US department of agriculture (USDA) cancelled the pandemic-era Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) programme, which funded about $500m annually for food banks; and froze about $500m in funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), one of the agency's core nutrition programmes that supplies food to states to pass on to food banks for free. Much of the food Mid-Ohio distributes is donated, but donations alone can't stock a pantry consistently. Its current $11.1m purchasing budget, built from federal, state and private dollars, helps fill the gaps. The March cuts wiped out about 22% of Mid-Ohio's buying power for the next fiscal year — funds and food that staff are trying to replace. In early December, Mid-Ohio ordered 24 truckloads filled with milk, meat and eggs for delivery this spring and summer. The food came through the TEFAP programme, using about $1.5m in government funding. The first delivery was scheduled to show up April 9. The only thing to arrive was a cancellation notice. USDA said secretary Brooke Rollins is working to ensure federal nutrition spending is efficient, effective and aligned with the administration's budget priorities. More cuts could come. Last month, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives passed Trump's tax and spending bill. It called for $300bn in cuts to food benefits for low income people under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which fed nearly 1.4-million Ohioans in January, according to the latest state data. If the cuts survive the Senate and are passed into law, it annually would cost Ohio at least $475m in state funding to maintain current SNAP benefits, plus at least $70m for administrative programme costs, said Cleveland-based The Center for Community Solutions, an independent, non-partisan policy research group. That would consume nearly every state-controlled dollar in Ohio's department of job and family services budget, roughly 95% of the general revenue meant to help fund everything from jobless claims to foster care. Ohio governor Mike DeWine and other legislators in this GOP supermajority state capitol, facing a constitutional requirement to pass a balanced budget, told Reuters that extra money for food banks isn't there. The proposed fiscal 2025 Ohio budget would set food bank funding back to 2019 levels — or about 23% less than what it spent this year, in a state where nearly one in three people qualify for help. Federal safety-net programmes have become campaign fodder, too. At a recent Ohio Republican Party fundraiser in Richland County, Ohio, voters in suits and Bikers for Trump gear alike listened to Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech millionaire turned presidential candidate now running for Ohio governor. He spoke out against 'a culture of dependence on the entitlement state that has festered in our country for 60 years'. SAVING A PENNY So what happens when the government pulls back and supplies thin? If you're Victoria Brown and her small team of four, it means working the phones, chasing leads, watching markets and moving fast. At Mid-Ohio's offices in Grove City, the food bank's director of sourcing sipped her coffee and squinted at her screen, eyes tracking the price per kilogram of cucumbers down to the cent. Saving a penny might seem inconsequential, unless you're trying to buy 1,800kg. In a supply chain that has relied on steady government support, food donations have become even more important, even as they grow more haphazard in both timing and what's available. Outside Brown's office, one staffer was trying to track down a shipment of pineapples. The rest were on the road, talking crop conditions with farmers, negotiating delivery times with suppliers and checking with grocers to see what might be sitting in the back, waiting for a second life. Brown glanced at her inbox, where new offers stacked up: At 11:10am, one pallet of frozen chicken. I'll find out why it's being donated, a staffer promised. At 11:13am, four pallets of cereal, bulk packed in industrial totes. Brown jotted a note for the volunteer co-ordinator: Anyone available to scoop a thousand pounds (453.59kg) of cereal into small bags? RACING AGAINST THE CLOCK Some of that food may be headed for Mid-Ohio's Norton Market, a modern food pantry built to feel like a real store in Columbus. The man in charge here is Denver Burkhart. He moves with the kind of precision the military teaches and life reinforces. At 35, he looks every bit the soldier he still is — broad-shouldered and lean, squared off at the edges. Fifteen years in the army, two tours in Afghanistan, one in Iraq, now he has a mission back home until he serves overseas again with the Ohio Army National Guard. He started the morning as he always does: at a laptop in the back cramped office, racing to secure whatever free or discounted goods Brown's team had found. He leant over the keyboard, one eye on the clock, the other on the blinking screen. The inventory system had just refreshed. The race was on to fill his mental list. His fingers clicked fast, steady, practised. He hovered over baby formula. More moms have been showing up lately. Forty cases into the cart. Maybe too many — but if he waited, they'd be gone. 'I rely heavily on the free product,' he said. 'Without it, we'd be hurting really bad.' 'WATER DAYS' Across town, Shannon Follins checks on her ice supply. It's for what she calls the 'water days'. Follins, 37, is raising three children, including three-year-old twins. One is autistic; he hasn't found his words yet. Until recently, Follins worked third shift at Waffle House for $5.25 an hour, and now she's studying for a degree in social services. Family bring groceries when they can. But it's the pantry at Broad Street Presbyterian Church, stocked by Mid-Ohio, that lets her make meals that feel like more than survival. One recent night, her daughter Essence twirled barefoot across their kitchen floor, dancing to the sounds of boiling pasta and chicken simmering in the pan. When there was nothing else to eat, she filled her children's bellies with tap water and a mother's promise that tomorrow might be better. 'It gives me a sense of security,' she said, nodding towards the plastic jugs stacked in her freezer. If the government cuts food aid? She's prepared for more water days.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio food banks are serving more people than ever, budget would maintain funding at 2019 levels
Workers handing out food at Faith Fellowship's food pantry. (Photo by Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal.) Ohio's food banks are set to receive $7.5 million less in the state budget than they did last year. Some lawmakers quibble with calling that a cut, and there's a logic to their argument. The additional funding was a one-time supplement, approved in 2023, while the state was flush with federal COVID relief dollars. Now, some argue, the economy is back on its feet, there are plenty of job openings, and it's time for the state to dial back assistance programs. But the people maintaining that safety net say the need is greater than it's ever been. Gardens, pantries and food banks: How Ohio tries to keep pace with hunger There's an echo of the 2024 presidential election in that disconnect. The economy might look good on paper, but many are still struggling to make ends meet. Housing costs are rising. Wages aren't keeping up. Inflation rates have come down. Grocery bills haven't. People who work in the food assistance system regularly point out that when money is tight, food is the first place families cut back. You can't reduce your rent or electric bills, but you might be able to save some money leaning on canned goods or mac and cheese. The state budget maintains food banks' core appropriation of about $24.5 million year. But Mike Hochron from the Mid-Ohio Food Collective explained that's the same funding they received in 2019. Back then his organization fed about 50,000 families in Franklin County each month. Now it's 100,000. 'I don't know how you're supposed to serve twice as many people with the same amount of resources,' he said. 'It means being really creative. It means being really efficient, and it also means figuring out how to make do with less.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX For a couple hours every Saturday, Pastor Susan Roark's Faith Fellowship congregation runs a pop-up up food panty in an empty lot on Circleville's Court Street. This is the front line of Ohio's food assistance system. In communities all over the state, pantries provide households with groceries like meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and grains. An hour before they open, workers are lugging banana crates packed with food from a box truck and trailer. They've got a ring of folding tables steadily filling up with canned goods, produce and bread. A man pulls out a step stool to hang a large blue Faith Fellowship sign on the truck. Nearby a few workers are laying out used clothing. There's already a line of people waiting. At one end of the lot there's an old motor home. Inside Cecilia Seckman and Mary Martin are filling Styrofoam trays with food. This sets the Faith Fellowship pantry apart from many others. Visitors can pick up the typical panty basket, but they can also leave with a hot meal. 'We're gonna have ham and potatoes, green beans, rolls, and cake,' Seckman says as she dips food out of a couple of crock pots. Tomorrow is Easter; a man from another church donated 17 hams. The germ of Faith Fellowship's pantry came from one of their congregants, William Michael Brown. He worked with a street ministry in nearby Chillicothe and wanted to bring the idea to Circleville. 'The Bible says you're supposed to feed and clothe the needy,' Brown said matter of factly. 'We all do what we're supposed to do, it's all trying to follow the Bible.' He's proud of how their effort has grown — 'It's just been a bloom,' he said — but the demand worries him a bit, too. 'I don't know if it's the wages, if it's the cost of living, or what it is,' Brown said. 'They come from everywhere,' he added. 'It's a need.' Eric and Ashley Wharton made the drive from Chillicothe. Eric said the pantry gives them some breathing room amid the rising cost of living. 'I'm door dashing, but I'm barely surviving,' he said. Getting a hot meal on top of the pantry basket makes a huge impact for them. 'If you put the price on that, that's $8-10 if we're gonna go buy it,' he said. 'So, I mean, that puts $10 back in my pocket that I can use for gas or use for something that's a little bit more important.' Talisha Myers said the extra meals take a lot of work off her plate. 'I have five kids, and then plus my father-in-law lives with us, so it's like, it's really hard,' she said. 'We don't qualify for food stamps or anything, because they say me and my husband make too much together.' Roark's congregation is only about 50 people, but they serve a couple hundred pantry visitors and give out about 250 meals each week. After only half an hour they'd given out 125 meals. 'I think the need is greater than our capacity to meet that,' she acknowledged. 'And there are other organizations in town that are working to meet different needs, but all of us together still can't meet the need.' Standing behind organizations like Faith Fellowship are the food banks. While pantries operate like a storefront, food banks serve as distribution centers. Ohio has regional 12 food banks, and with a 20-county footprint, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective is the largest. 'We're sending food every day out as far as Steubenville — a three hour drive each direction,' Hochran explained. 'So, whether that's as far north as Marion, down south to Chillicothe and all the way out east to the West Virginia border, that's all our territory.' Mid-Ohio supplies food to more than 600 support organizations from a warehouse in Grove City. The building is the size of three football fields; think Costco but crawling with forklifts instead of shoppers looking for samples. Fully stocked, the warehouse can hold roughly 7 million pounds of food. But the goal, Hochran explained, is to move that stock out rapidly — sometimes the same day it arrives. 'Almost two thirds of what we distribute at Mid-Ohio is fresh food,' he said. To get produce out the door they proactively send out fresh food alongside the items pantries have ordered. 'We know you're going to serve a couple hundred families today, that's going to be about —make up a number — four pallets worth of fresh produce,' Hochran said. 'We'll pick from what we have and send out a good variety of it, because we don't want this stuff sitting in our cooler for three days.' A case in point is stacked up five feet tall on about twenty pallets. 'This is a good example of perfectly wholesome, delicious cabbage,' Ohio Association of Food Banks Executive Director Joree Novotny explained. 'But it's not going to have a retail market. It's not up to size, up to snuff, in terms of what a retail customer is looking for and what our traditional grocers are looking for.' That cabbage was purchased through an Ohio program helping farmers recoup their investment in produce that doesn't quite make the grade for your local grocery store. 'So rather than see this all end up staying out in the fields or end up in a landfill, we're able to bring it in at pennies on the pound,' Novotny added. As she's explaining that, forklifts are filing up and carrying away one pallet after another. While Hochron shows off a large display where they track delivery trucks in real time, more forklifts start unloading a new shipment. This time it's pallets of yellow squash. Novotny explains food banks around Ohio are getting squeezed in multiple ways. More people need their help, support programs are holding steady or rolling back and the money food banks have doesn't go as far as it once did. She points to seniors as an example. The Ohio Association of Food Banks estimates 70,000 Ohio seniors receive the minimum $23 benefit through SNAP, the federal food stamps program. But during the pandemic, the minimum SNAP benefit was more than $200. So where do they turn to make up the difference? 'Well, a good example, if you look right over here on these shelves,' Novotny said, 'these are some of the raw products that come directly from the USDA for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which is a small but mighty program that food banks operate in Ohio.' The problem is funding for that program has remained flat. The cost of groceries certainly has not. 'It's a good sort of microcosm,' Novotny said, 'of how that purchasing power that's been more limited means less food for vulnerable people.' Novotny said they're seeing similar funding challenges at the state level. To explain their current circumstances, she reaches all the way back to the Great Recession. It took food banks a decade to settle at a 'new normal' in 2019. At that point, she said, they were delivering take home groceries to about 850,000 times a quarter. 'Since then, putting all increases in need aside, if we were serving the same number of people today, we have significantly reduced purchasing power,' Novotny said. She noted the consumer price index for food has risen almost 24% in the last four years, and they're not serving 850,000 households a quarter — they're serving 1.4 million. 'We need some help,' she said, 'to help adjust to that inflationary pressure.' In their budget request, the Ohio Association of Food Banks asked for an inflation supplement of about $5 million on top of the $24.5 million they've been receiving since 2019. That request fell on deaf ears. In February, House Finance chair, state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, predicted that his caucus would keep historical funding in the budget but 'maintaining a level of funding that we had at the worst economic times we've had is just probably not gonna be what we do.' That prediction held. Novotny insisted 'we will always have some food to provide,' but with government support at the state and federal level standing still while prices rise and more families seek out support, something's got to give. 'We are already lightening the load significantly to each person who's coming to us for help,' she said. Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Latest USDA cut removes 700,000 pounds of meat, dairy, and eggs from Columbus food bank
Federal funding reductions are driving uncertainty for local food banks as another United States Department of Agriculture cut recently stripped the Mid-Ohio Food Collective of 700,000 pounds of food. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective told The Dispatch the USDA has canceled deliveries of $1.4 million worth of mostly meat, dairy and eggs, amounting to a loss of 697,000 pounds of food. Matt Habash, CEO of Mid-Ohio Food Collective, said that while MOFC is losing assistance, demand for food banks is at an all-time high. "These are your neighbors," Habash said. "When you think of poverty issues and hunger issues, we get this image of a single person in the homeless shelter. The vast majority (of food pantry users) are people your kids go to school with, that live in your neighborhood." The Mid-Ohio Food Collective is being hurt by USDA reductions in several programs, including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), as well as changes to the Commodity Credit Corporation and Section 32, which helps the government offload surplus commodities. The canceled USDA programs are just among the number of challenges that are now facing food banks in the region, including inflation, proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and a proposed Ohio budget that strips $7.5 million from food pantries. The USDA also recently canceled money for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which supplies assistance to local food banks, schools and organizations in underserved communities. The LFPA program provided more than $1 million in purchasing power to the collective, The Dispatch previously reported. Habash said all these factors add up to a stretching of MOFC's resources to provide high-quality, healthy food to the 20-county region it serves. Last year, MOFC distributed more than 83 million pounds of food to over 500,000 people across its service area. "There's going to be a lot of hungry people," Habash said. "It's just going to be less food available for people that need it now." Habash said that if SNAP benefits are cut, it will have a cascading effect on non-profits like MOFC, which are already seeing high levels of demand. "There's no amount of local private funding that will make up for that," Habash said. " He said there is a misconception that people who use SNAP and local food pantries are lazy, or don't want to work. When the reality is, he said, that most people using food pantries work one or even two jobs to try and make ends meet. Oftentimes, he said, that amid monthly expenses, many people who are "living on the edge" choose to cut their own food budgets to make ends meet. "Nobody wants to come and get emergency food, they would rather provide for themselves," Habash said. "That's a big misnomer in this, that these people are not working. They say 'Go get a job,' well these people already have one." The cuts and uncertainty also threaten MOFC's mission of providing fresh food to people. Last year, 64% of the food MOFC serves was fresh, according to MOFC data. The desire for making sure people have access to healthy food, Habash said, coincides with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' initiative, and said that food banks have been working on a national "food is medicine" strategy. "I suggest that we're a high-value, low-cost health care strategy," Habash said. "We're getting product from farmers and being able to give that directly to people that see better health outcomes. And not having those dollars puts us far behind in terms of being able to do that work." While food drives and volunteering may be helpful, Habash said, the MOFC is not going to make up federal and potential state losses with private charity. Instead, Habash encouraged those concerned to call their state and federal lawmakers and tell them that these cuts are unacceptable. "Charity giving is not going to be an answer," Habash said. "(The community) has to say: 'This is not okay. We should not have a hunger problem in America.' Go down and talk to the legislature and say 'this is our livelihood.'" Cole Behrens covers K-12 education and school districts in central Ohio. Have a tip? Contact Cole at cbehrens@ or connect with him on X at @Colebehr_report This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: USDA cuts: Mid-Ohio Food Collective loses $1.4M, 700k pounds of food
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE cuts hitting Ohio farmers, food banks
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Food banks and farms are facing challenges after the U.S. Department of Agriculture eliminated key funding programs as the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said they are slashing federal spending to reduce government waste. Now, food providers have been left scrambling to find new ways to support families and schools that depend on fresh food assistance. The USDA is cutting two federal programs that provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers. DOGE cancels $699K OSU research grant examining cannabis use in LGBTQ+ women Mike Hochron, senior vice president of communications for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, said the need is higher than it's ever been, and the government's move has him worried. 'Costs for everything are going up,' Hochron said. 'This is not the time to be reducing resources.' The move cuts about $420 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, a program that helped feed hungry people with high-quality Ohio-grown products. 'When we look at the possibility of a big cut, that really would have a material impact on the quality and quantity of food that we have,' Hochron said. Hochron said that just over the last three years, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective received about $3 million dollars in federal funds. Hot Chicken Takeover shutters Easton location, marking second closure this year 'What it really helped us to do was to source particularly high-demand products like protein milk, dairy products, eggs, and then high-quality fruits and vegetables, which are the things that our neighbors and our customers told us that they needed most,' Hochron said. According to Hochron, the program allowed them to distribute close to half a million pounds of food last year alone. Walter Bonham with the Richland Gro-Op said he's also feeling the impact. He said they started utilizing the program last year and he's concerned about the abrupt decision. 'We didn't expect it to happen in the middle of the season while we were already preparing for the 2025 season,' Bonham said. Bonham said the network of more than 40 different farmers was able to sell $300,000 worth of produce through the program last year. Grove City to pay healthcare insurance costs for low-income residents 'We were actually able to talk to the food banks before the season even started and able to understand what their struggles were with food, that they had trouble procuring and then actually provide to them what they needed and what they wanted,' Bonham said. Now, Bonham said these cuts are resulting in a domino effect. 'There's a huge impact, a bigger impact than just the produce going to the actual people,' Bonham said. 'But it actually helped uplift Ohio's agricultural and procurement kind of program and the aggregation that's been done in Ohio by them actually being really focused on local food procurement.' Bonham said this is going to hurt a lot of farmers like himself. He said now it's a matter of scrambling to find different homes for their produce and securing different buyers. 'This is really a time where everyone's contributions matter the most and that way, we can make sure that every family, every senior, every child who needs a little help to have healthy food on their table is able to get that help,' Hochron said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
07-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Eastland community plan plots area's future
Columbus has unveiled a massive plan to redevelop the Eastland Mall area. Why it matters: Once anchored by a bustling, million-square-foot retail center, Eastland declined for decades before the mall closed in 2022 and was declared a public nuisance. Driving the news: The Eastland for Everyone plan was unveiled Thursday at nearby Barnett Community Center. It proposes a variety of housing projects, businesses and community spaces for the former mall site and surrounding area. Columbus spent 18 months and $885,000 to develop the 280-page plan through resident focus groups and public workshops. What they found: Focus groups helped the city identify "8 Big Ideas" to guide development, including housing, entrepreneurship, youth education and job opportunities. What they're saying: Eastland neighborhood program specialist Noelle Britt says public outreach focused on residents' needs was critical to the plan's development and its potential for success. "A lot of times, community members feel like (development) happens to them, not in partnership alongside them," she tells Axios. "It was important for us to take the time to listen and learn." Flashback: The area's modern history began in 1956, when land began being annexed into Columbus. Eastland Mall opened in 1968. Starting in the 1980s, the area experienced population decline, disinvestment, aging housing and a steep decline in traffic, shifting from destination to bedroom community. By 2022, it was Columbus' fifth-highest ZIP code for reported crime, with about half of its residents' income at or under 200% of the poverty level. Context: The area has a much denser population of underserved and difficult-to-reach residents than surrounding neighborhoods. Of 20,400 residents, 68% identify as Black and 11% are New Americans. Many residents lack internet access, have limited English proficiency and are experiencing housing or food insecurity. What's next: With the plan unveiled, now the real work begins. Neighborhood strategies manager Patrice Allen Brady says the plan "creates the space for organizations and institutions and other stakeholders to step in and say, 'You know what? I can do this work.'" She pointed to plans in Linden and the Hilltop that spurred investment from the likes of Nationwide and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. The bottom line: The neighborhood is in need of help, and Britt says she has real hope that Eastland for Everyone will lead to "a significantly improved lived and neighborhood experience" for residents. "Transformation is not even a large enough word for the potential of this plan." The full plan
