The U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting programs that helped schools and charities buy locally-sourced food. That decision is set to cut sales for some Missouri farmers.
The move rolls back two programs from the Biden administration, which announced last year it would add $1.1 billion to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement and Local Food for Schools programs.
“As a pandemic-era program, LFPA will now be sunsetted at the end of the performance period, marking a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives,” a USDA spokesperson said.
“Unlike the Biden Administration, which funneled billions in CCC funds into short-term programs with no plan for longevity, USDA is prioritizing stable, proven solutions that deliver lasting impact,” they added.
Almost $20 million was set to go to Missouri.
Liz Graznak is an organic farmer in Moniteau County. She says a quarter of her sales come from agencies funded by the program, and she doesn’t know how she’ll make up the difference.
“My farm has more than doubled in size in the last about three years, much to the result of these programs that are providing food to people that need it and to kids in schools,” she said.
One of the ways Graznak sells her food is through the Kansas City Food Hub, a farmer-owned wholesale distributor. They work with farmers and community partnerships to provide food to underserved communities through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement.
“We might be giving out 125 boxes of fresh farm product to Stockton, Missouri – we were just there last week as part of this program, because there is still a little bit of the funding left from the last round,” said Chief Business Officer Thomas Smith. “It just will be canceled after we hit July.”
“It's a really wonderful food access program that's helping a lot of Missourians in rural communities and urban communities access high quality, nutrient-dense farm products, while also supporting a lot of small farms,” he added.
The group also helps facilitate getting local foods in schools under the Local Food for Schools programs.
“Even if the school wants to buy lettuce from a small farm, they don't have the budget, because schools have such small budgets for food procurement and so they really have to make every penny count,” Smith said. “Because of this grant, they then got this additional whole budget that can only be used for buying local products.”
Without those funds, many schools can only afford to buy food from large companies, like Sysco, a multinational corporation that reported a gross profit of $14.6 billion in fiscal year 2024.
“At the end of the day, the kids will still eat, and the kids will still be able to find their food,” he said.
That’s why Smith isn’t as worried about the schools as he is about local farmers.
Seeds in the Ground
A USDA report found that food produced and sold locally totaled $9.0 billion in revenue in 2020. Smith said cancelling a $1.1 billion subsidy for the market would be a sizable shock
“People have been planning for (the funds), people have been coordinating for it,” he said. “There's seeds in the ground right now, there's people who bought equipment, bought more farmland, created more housing for their employees.”
“And they all did it because the USDA gave them the agreement that there would be a market, that you need to increase your production to meet this market,” Smith added. “And now they've completely pulled the market away.”
Graznak said she doesn’t know how she’ll adjust to losing the $240,000 in revenue she received because of program beneficiaries.
“I have not even had time, literally, to process the potential problems that it's going to significantly cause for me,” Graznak said the morning after news broke.
“I will have to lay people off. I will have to.”
