USDA Cancels $1 Billion In Aid For Local Food Purchasing For Schools And Food Banks

In a news release, the School Nutrition Association confirmed that the USDA has cut an estimated $660 million in funding to purchase healthy, locally sourced food for school meals.

Schools nationwide will not receive federal funding for healthy food

The funds previously allocated through the Local Foods for Schools Cooperative Agreement program will no longer be available in 2025 to support local producers or provide fresh, healthy options for schools and childcare facilities.

“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, RDN, SNS, said in a news release statement.

She continued, “These proposals would cause millions of children to lose access to free school meals at a time when working families are struggling with rising food costs. Meanwhile, short-staffed school nutrition teams, striving to improve menus and expand scratch-cooking, would be saddled with time-consuming and costly paperwork created by new government inefficiencies.”

Federal cuts also impact LFPA

State officials received notification of USDA’s decision to axe the LFS program. More than 40 states had signed agreements to receive funds from previous years, per Politico.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which supports food banks and other feeding organizations, has also been eliminated. While USDA plans to unfreeze funds for existing LFPA agreements, per Politico, there will be no funds for a second term in 2025.

A USDA spokesperson stated that funding “is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.”

“These programs, created under the former Administration via Executive authority, no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. LFPA and LFPA Plus agreements that were in place prior to LFPA 25, which still have substantial financial resources remaining, will continue to be in effect for the remainder of the period of performance,“ the spokesperson added.

The Biden administration initially expanded both programs

In December, the Biden administration expanded its spending on LFS and LFPA to $1.13 billion to support local and regional food systems. The funding, initially announced on Oct. 1, helped states, territories, and Tribes access wholesome foods, according to a news release.

The USDA provided more than $471.5 million for states and territories to purchase healthy, unprocessed foods for schools participating in National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast programs. According to the SNA, these programs are among the initiatives impacted by the federal cuts.

This move is the latest round of federal spending cuts by the Trump administration and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Blavity reported that Musk’s unofficial federal agency spearheaded cuts to the Department of Education, Social Security Administration, IRS, U.S. Agency for International Development and more.