The Trump administration recently slashed a program that helps schools and food banks buy produce from local farmers, cuts that total $1 billion nationwide.
In Connecticut, over $9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was set aside for schools and food banks. The move effectively cancels that money.
The cuts impact $5.6 million for the Local Food for Schools program, which connects schools with local farmers, and a promised $3.7 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program, which helps food banks purchase locally-grown food.
The money would have continued the program through 2027.
For food banks and people who go to them, the economic uncertainty represents a small part of the larger anxiety about ongoing moves on the federal level.
“There's so many questions about things like tariffs … federal cuts to the SNAP program,” said Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare. “Will they happen? How will they happen? What will be the net effect on food insecurity?”
In terminating the Biden-era program, USDA said on March 7 that the LFPA and school program "no longer effectuate the goals of the agency." This comes under continued federal cuts led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, whose claims to save money have been “inaccurate and drastically overstated,” as NPR has reported.
Another concern over the USDA reductions: LFPA gave farmers certainty, and supplied nutritious, fresh produce, which is typically more expensive than processed, unhealthy foods that can be bought at a lower price.
“For an organization like ours that is interested in not just providing food, but providing healthy food, taking away programs like LFPA, it's a real killer,” Jackubowski said. “Thirty years ago, food banks basically amassed edible product and distributed edible product – no matter what it was – and we have changed over time.”
As federal cuts grow, state lawmakers urged to step up
Food pantries across Connecticut are seeing more people showing up to get food, but are also struggling to keep up with rising food costs and demand. A 2024 report authored by the state’s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity showed food insecurity was on the rise in Connecticut among both adults and children.
“People in our communities – young students and their teachers, local farmers, those in need – will struggle without this support,” Sen. Majority Leader Bob Duff said in a statement. “Is harming children and farmers making America great?"
The federal cuts come just days after Connecticut’s Human Services Committee passed a bill that proposes allocating $10 million for food banks to buy produce. Of that sum, $1.5 million would go toward purchasing goods from Connecticut farmers.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding voted in favor of the bill, which passed unanimously. Sen. Eric Berthel, chief deputy Republican leader and co-chair of the Feeding CT caucus, has been vocal in his support of the effort. Neither responded to multiple requests for comment on federal cuts to the LFPA program.
Meanwhile, the Lamont administration earmarked $900,000 for Connecticut Foodshare in the state budget last month. But the agency says with growing demand, the help is needed sooner than the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2027.
Local farmers are also voicing their support for the state to step up.
“This funding would not only help food pantries and community meal programs, but also strengthen Connecticut’s local food system by supporting local farms, like Lathrop Farm, for the purchase of Connecticut sourced foods,” farm owner Angela Mia Colasuonno wrote in public testimony supporting the bill.
Jakobowski said the $10 million price tag is closer to what neighboring states spend on similar programs - and is concerned about what could happen if the state can’t help fill some of that gap, and if more federal cuts come that affect their bottom line.
“You're basically going to have more people, who need more food, and we're going to have less food to give out,” he said. “It could honestly turn into a terrible nightmare.”
