Now Trump’s taking food away from kids
The United States Department of Agriculture pulled $1 billion in funding for two programs that help feed school children and the poor, Politico reported, marking the latest cruel cut President Donald Trump and co-President Elon Musk have made in their quest to cut the federal budget.
According to Politico, the USDA cut $660 million from the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which gave schools funding to purchase food from local farmers and food producers.
According to the USDA, “This program will strengthen the food system for schools and childcare institutions by helping to build a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain, and expand local and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved producers and processors.”
The rest of the cuts come from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which according to the USDA provides “funding for state, tribal and territorial governments to purchase foods produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination to help support local, regional and underserved producers.”
The programs were both created under the Biden administration, and helped feed needy members of the community while at the same time boosting local farmers and food vendors.
“USDA has provided $900 million in funding to 50 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and 84 Tribal governments, sourcing foods from over 8,000 local producers, with more than 5,000 identified as underserved. This wholesome food has gone to 7,900 food banks, food pantries, and communities across America,” the USDA announced in December, when President Joe Biden was still in office.
But the USDA told Politico that the programs “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency” and thus have been cut.
The cuts come at a terrible time for low-income Americans, as the cost of food is rising due to bird flu spiking egg prices and Trump’s tariffs raising the cost of food production.
Democratic governors slammed the Trump administration’s cut to the two food aid programs.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared that feeding children and supporting local farmers are no longer ‘priorities,’ and it’s just the latest terrible cut with real impact on families across Massachusetts,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a news release, saying that her state is set to lose $12.2 million from the cuts. “There is nothing ‘appropriate’ about it. Trump and Musk are continuing to withhold essential funding in violation of court orders, and our children, farmers and small businesses are bearing the brunt of it.”
Ultimately, this is the latest cut Trump and Musk have made through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that not only hurts needy Americans but also farmers.
DOGE’s cuts are causing farmers to lose millions in grants to help them prevent climate-change fueled losses in their crops. The Trump administration’s shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development also hurts farmers, as the government spent billions on crops that they sent to impoverished nations.
What’s more, Trump’s tariffs on China are also set to hit farmers hard, as China is one of the biggest consumers of American-grown wheat, corn, soybeans, and more. If tariffs make the products too expensive, China will look elsewhere to purchase their farm goods.
Farmers voted for Trump in large numbers, but they’re not getting a good return on investment.