Food banks and schools in Arkansas are facing decreased funding after the USDA canceled nearly one billion dollars in programs. The local food and schools program helped school cafeterias create meals using fresh produce from local farmers – and known as the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Program.
As Little Rock Public Radio reports, Marlene Schwartz is the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut. She says the cuts will impact a wide range of partnerships. “These cuts will also affect farmers and ranchers. One of the things that’s really helpful for them is to be able to predict purchasing. And so, when there’s funding available like that, and they know that they can set up their contracts and their guaranteed buyers of the products they are growing or producing, it makes their job much better.”
These federal funding cuts come at a particularly challenging time for the 13.5% of U.S. households identified as food insecure. That’s according to a Fall 2024 USDA study, which deemed it a hunger crisis in America, affecting more than 47 million people. Arkansas ranks worst in the country for food insecurity for 19% of households.
The timing is not any better for American farmers, many of whom are already bracing for a potential crisis during the current tariff rate uncertainty.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest, and a graduate of the University of Washington, Jeff began his on-air broadcasting career 33 years ago in the Black Hills of South Dakota as a general assignment reporter.
