Press Releases

More than 80 Members of Congress, led by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-N.C.), are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) after the Trump Administration cancelled two agency programs that help bolster local and regional food supply chains by purchasing food from American farmers and providing nutritious meals to feeding programs, including at food banks and schools. 

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Pingree and her colleagues said that the USDA’s decision to cancel federal funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreements for 2025—as well as the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS)--will impact farmers across the country and strip food away from people, who need it, including children. 

“At a time when farmers are facing increased input costs and significant uncertainty due to the indiscriminate funding freeze on certain USDA funds, and when grocery costs have not come down and more families are relying on food banks and school meals, it is reckless and cruel to cancel LFPA and LFS awards to states,” they wrote.

The full letter is available here and copied below. 

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Secretary Rollins,

We write to express our deep dismay and concern regarding the United States Department of Agriculture decision to terminate Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreements for 2025 and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) across the country. This decision will impact farmers across the country and strip food away from people, including children, who need it. 

The LFPA program provided funding across the country to purchase locally and regionally sourced foods to maintain and improve agricultural supply chain resiliency. As you may recall, the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare issues with our agricultural supply chain. The LFPA program worked to ensure food and beverages purchased were healthy, nutritious and unique to their geographic areas, meeting the needs of the population. Food purchased through the program supported feeding programs, including food banks, which continue to experience unprecedented demand. The LFS program provided funds to support the purchase of domestic local food to provide in schools and at child care facilities. Paired together, LFPA and LFS bolstered our local and regional supply chains to support producers and ensure Americans had access to nutritious food.

At a time when farmers are facing increased input costs and significant uncertainty due to the indiscriminate funding freeze on certain USDA funds, and when grocery costs have not come down and more families are relying on food banks and school meals, it is reckless and cruel to cancel LFPA and LFS awards to states.

We request answers to the following questions by March 21, 2025

1.     How much LFPA25 and LFS funding was clawed back by USDA?

2.     How does USDA intend to use the funds clawed back?

3.     What is USDA’s legal justification for cancelling already agreed to LFPA and LFS contracts with states?

4.     How many farmers benefitted from previous rounds of LFPA and LFS funding? 

5.     How will USDA assist farmers in the coming growing season that lost a market due to LFPA and LFS termination?

6.     How will USDA assist additional impacted communities, including feeding programs, school children and school nutrition professionals, and child care facilities? 

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter. 

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