Mastodawn

DoomsdaysCW Aug 10, 2025

#FoodAid groups bought from #LocalFarmers with #USDA grants. Abrupt cuts leave both struggling.

By Meg Oliver, June 30, 2025

"Four days a week, Maile Auterson and one of her employees drive hundreds of miles across Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas to deliver fresh produce to #FoodDeserts.

"Auterson's nonprofit, Springfield #CommunityGardens, helps #UnderservedSchools, #FoodPantries and senior centers. One center in Ava, #Missouri, is the only place for many where they can get a hot meal.

"Springfield Community Gardens is one of many organizations that relied on grants from the United States Department of Agriculture to distribute produce to schools and low-income communities through two pandemic-era federal programs. They provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers.

"But in March, the USDA abruptly canceled the programs, calling the decision a 'return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.'

"Now, Auterson says, 'some of the most vulnerable people' are without adequate access to food, including children and #SeniorCitizens."

#USDACuts #USPol #FundingCuts #FoodInsecurity #TrumpSucks #LocalFarms #FoodPantries #HungerGames #SchoolLunches #KillThePoor #TaxBreaksForTheRich

Food aid groups bought from local farmers with USDA grants. Abrupt cuts leave both struggling.

Advocates warn the cuts could ripple through food deserts, rural communities and urban areas where access to healthy food is miles away.