USDA Cuts Hit Food Banks Across the Country: ‘This Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg’

“I always tell people, ‘It’s gonna get worse before it gets better’ and people look at me like, ‘What do you mean? It can’t get any worse.’ Well, yeah, it can get worse, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Mike Robinson is at his computer, assessing his inventory for the next three months at the food pantry he runs in Brazil, Indiana. The Clay County Emergency Food Pantry fed 33,000 families with 54,000 pounds of food last year, said Robinson.

He’s worried about the next six months due to U.S. Department of Agriculture cuts to food banks and food pantries around the country. “A lot of these pantries are not going to survive. We’re financially in good shape so far. But many of them survive week by week,” he told Capital & Main. Robinson is also concerned that the cuts are “going to affect farmers and meat producers and so many others in the community.”

So far, the USDA has cut more than $1 billion in assistance by ending two pandemic-era programs — $421 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, which enabled states to buy food from farmers and give it to groups that help communities in need, and $660 million for Local Food for Schools, which allowed states to buy food for schools and child care facilities. In addition, it halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks via the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation pending a review, the agency told CNN.  

The impact is being felt across the country, challenging food banks already struggling to meet higher demand, with hunger rates increasing in recent years amid inflation and the end of pandemic-era assistance programs. In 2023, 13.5% of Americans said they struggled with food insecurity — the highest rate in nearly a decade.