Latest news with #SchoolNutritionAssociation
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘They affect food into the community,' Feeding Tampa Bay on USDA funding cut to local food purchase program
TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) – Million of meals to feed Tampa Bay families could be at risk, due to new federal cuts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency announced they have cut funding to two federal programs, the School Nutrition Association and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). LFPA helps food banks buy food from local farmers. Thomas Mantz, the President and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay said they expect to distribute about 100 million meals this year, but the number could go down. Florida Attorney General's team investigates price gouging amid hurricane season Trump safe after what FBI describes as apparent assassination attempt Mega Millions $800 million jackpot won; $1 million winner in Florida 'Of those 100 million meals, about 20 million of those meals come through partnerships with the federal government that we distribute food for them,' said Mantz. 'These cuts don't affect our funding, they affect food into the community.' LFPA was set to distribute about $500 million this year to support food banks. Mantz said without one of their LFPA partners, they would lose about four million meals. 'The size and scope of the potential loss here is not something we can make up easily or likely. That's a cap that's really difficult for us to fill. And so we will do whatever we can to step into that challenge but it's unlikely we could make up for that big of a loss,' Mantz said. The USDA's website said Florida LFPA was awarded more than $24 million to go to 148 unique producers and 131 underserved producers. Ernesto Ruiz with the Farmworkers Association of Florida said these cuts will cause a ripple effect. 'If they don't have access to this capital or they don't have access to these programs to sell their produce then the farmers are going to struggle, which is going to then affect the farmworkers themselves either with less work, lower wages,' Ruiz said. Ruiz said there is a risk for greater food insecurities and more stress on the population that feeds the country. 'We want this population, we need this population to be resilient so the rest of the population can have safety in our food system, and that's not what we're doing at all,' Ruiz said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local schools to lose federal funding used to bring local food to cafeterias
Mar. 15—WATERTOWN — Upward of $660 million could be lost from school districts nationwide as proposed cuts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture threaten to slash a program used to purchase food from local farmers. The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement, or LFS program funds an estimated $660 million nationally that is no longer expected to be available. A news release from the School Nutrition Association, which represents 50,000 members who provide high-quality and low-cost meals to students across the country, has criticized the Trump administration's move saying in part that "school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat." The association cites a 2021 study from the JAMA Network, a consortium of peer-reviewed medical journals. "With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat, Congress needs to invest in underfunded school meal programs rather than cut services critical to student achievement and health," SNA President Shannon Gleave said in the news release. Many federal programs across many agencies have been cut through President Donald J. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk. The department is slashing federal spending on what it calls "waste, fraud and abuse." North country school administrators contacted by the Times this week declined comment because they had not received official notification that they program had been cut. The state Department of Education has established minimum funding amounts each school district can expect to receive through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. Actual funding amounts may be higher based on the number of districts that apply and are approved. ALEXANDRIA $2,323 BEAVER RIVER $5,593 BELLEVILLE HENDERSON $2,165 BRASHER FALLS $4,785 BRUSHTON-MOIRA $3,558 CANTON $4,783 CARTHAGE $16,546 CHATEAUGAY $1,869 CLIFTON-FINE $1,287 COLTON PIERREPONT $2,139 COPENHAGEN $2,698 EDWARDS-KNOX $2,810 GENERAL BROWN $5,891 GOUVERNEUR $7,279 HAMMOND $1,247 HARRISVILLE $1,581 HERMON-DEKALB $1,927 HEUVELTON $2,410 INDIAN RIVER $17,104 LAFARGEVILLE $2,364 LISBON $2,614 LOWVILLE $7,318 LYME $1,643 MADRID-WADDINGTON $3,354 MALONE $9,657 MASSENA $8,374 MORRISTOWN $2,188 NORWOOD-NORFOLK $4,331 OGDENSBURG $8,067 PARISHVILLE-HOPKINTON $1,698 POTSDAM $5,443 SACKETS HARBOR $2,049 SAINT REGIS FALLS $1,132 SALMON RIVER $6,720 SARANAC LAKE $4,549 SOUTH JEFFERSON $7,613 SOUTH LEWIS $6,480 THOUSAND ISLAND $4,515 TUPPER LAKE $4,321 WATERTOWN $17,643
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local schools set to lose federal funding used to bring local food to cafeterias
Mar. 14—WATERTOWN — Upward of $660 million could be lost from school districts nationwide as proposed cuts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture threaten to slash a program used to purchase food from local farmers. The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement, or LFS program funds an estimated $660 million nationally that is no longer expected to be available. A news release from the School Nutrition Association, which represents 50,000 members who provide high-quality and low-cost meals to students across the country, has criticized the Trump administration's move saying in part that "school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat." The association cites a 2021 study from the JAMA Network, a consortium of peer-reviewed medical journals. "With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat, Congress needs to invest in underfunded school meal programs rather than cut services critical to student achievement and health," SNA President Shannon Gleave said in the news release. Many federal programs across many agencies have been cut through President Donald J. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk. The department is slashing federal spending on what it calls "waste, fraud and abuse." North country school administrators contacted by the Times this week declined comment because they had not received official notification that they program had been cut. The state Department of Education has established minimum funding amounts each school district can expect to receive through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. Actual funding amounts may be higher based on the number of districts that apply and are approved. ALEXANDRIA $2,323 BEAVER RIVER $5,593 BELLEVILLE HENDERSON $2,165 BRASHER FALLS $4,785 BRUSHTON-MOIRA $3,558 CANTON $4,783 CARTHAGE $16,546 CHATEAUGAY $1,869 CLIFTON-FINE $1,287 COLTON PIERREPONT $2,139 COPENHAGEN $2,698 EDWARDS-KNOX $2,810 GENERAL BROWN $5,891 GOUVERNEUR $7,279 HAMMOND $1,247 HARRISVILLE $1,581 HERMON-DEKALB $1,927 HEUVELTON $2,410 INDIAN RIVER $17,104 LAFARGEVILLE $2,364 LISBON $2,614 LOWVILLE $7,318 LYME $1,643 MADRID-WADDINGTON $3,354 MALONE $9,657 MASSENA $8,374 MORRISTOWN $2,188 NORWOOD-NORFOLK $4,331 OGDENSBURG $8,067 PARISHVILLE-HOPKINTON $1,698 POTSDAM $5,443 SACKETS HARBOR $2,049 SAINT REGIS FALLS $1,132 SALMON RIVER $6,720 SARANAC LAKE $4,549 SOUTH JEFFERSON $7,613 SOUTH LEWIS $6,480 THOUSAND ISLAND $4,515 TUPPER LAKE $4,321 WATERTOWN $17,643
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
USDA ends program that helped schools serve food from local farmers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department is ending two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and producers. About $660 million of that went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program. A separate program provided money to food banks. In Maine, the money allowed the coastal RSU 23 school district to buy food directly from fisherman, dairy producers and farmers for school meals, said Caroline Trinder, the district's food and nutrition services director. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,' Trinder said. 'It's the least processed, and we're helping our local economy, we're helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.' The cuts will hurt school districts with 'chronically underfunded' school meal budgets, said Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association. 'In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers and is detrimental to school meal programs struggling to manage rising food and labor costs,' Gleave said in a statement. USDA said the programs are a legacy of the pandemic and no longer supported the agency's priorities. 'The COVID era is over — USDA's approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,' a USDA spokesperson said in a statement. Massachusetts received roughly $12 million in federal funding for school districts and childcare programs to buy food from local producers. 'The signaling that's coming out of Washington in recent weeks, it's obviously deeply disappointing,' said Patrick Tutwiler, the state's education secretary. 'There's clear misalignment around what is important and what matters. We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.' School nutrition directors are bracing for potential rollbacks to programs that expanded funding for school meals, which for some children can be their only reliable source of food. Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican's tax bill include raising the poverty level needed for schools to provide universal free meals without an application. Restricting eligibility for food assistance programs and requiring income verification for free or reduced price school meals, two proposals for cutting costs, would also likely cut out eligible families from accessing food, the School Nutrition Association said. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
12-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
USDA ends program that helped schools serve food from local farmers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department is ending two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and producers. About $660 million of that went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program. A separate program provided money to food banks. In Maine, the money allowed the coastal RSU 23 school district to buy food directly from fisherman, dairy producers and farmers for school meals, said Caroline Trinder, the district's food and nutrition services director. 'I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,' Trinder said. 'It's the least processed, and we're helping our local economy, we're helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.' The cuts will hurt school districts with 'chronically underfunded' school meal budgets, said Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association. 'In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers and is detrimental to school meal programs struggling to manage rising food and labor costs,' Gleave said in a statement. USDA said the programs are a legacy of the pandemic and no longer supported the agency's priorities. 'The COVID era is over — USDA's approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,' a USDA spokesperson said in a statement. Massachusetts received roughly $12 million in federal funding for school districts and childcare programs to buy food from local producers. 'The signaling that's coming out of Washington in recent weeks, it's obviously deeply disappointing,' said Patrick Tutwiler, the state's education secretary. 'There's clear misalignment around what is important and what matters. We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.' School nutrition directors are bracing for potential rollbacks to programs that expanded funding for school meals, which for some children can be their only reliable source of food. Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican's tax bill include raising the poverty level needed for schools to provide universal free meals without an application. Restricting eligibility for food assistance programs and requiring income verification for free or reduced price school meals, two proposals for cutting costs, would also likely cut out eligible families from accessing food, the School Nutrition Association said. ___
