Local Food Banks Struggle for Funds, Groceries

Proposed cuts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of $500 million to funding for regional hunger relief organizations will stop deliveries to local food banks nationwide, including the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB). That could mean the suspension of $750,000 in food shipments to REFB alone, and their availability for redistribution to local families. (See Update below on further cuts to food supplies from REFB).

Crews from the REFB come to Healdsburg almost every day of the week to distribute groceries and other essential goods to those in need, at a rotation of locations—including the Healdsburg Senior Center, City Hall, Healdsburg Elementary, Trinity Baptist Church, Alliance Medical Center, the Healdsburg Food Pantry and Corazón Healdsburg.

A number of distribution points also exist in Windsor, Geyserville and Cloverdale, in addition to many more across Sonoma County. A full schedule of distribution times and locations is on the REFB website at tinyurl.com/getfoodrefb.

“The federal cuts are indeed a significant challenge, as we were anticipating $700,000 worth of food over the next few months that will no longer be available to us,” said Rachelle Mesheau, the REFB’s head of communications. “Despite this setback, we remain committed to providing food to our community in Healdsburg and the surrounding areas.”

Characterizing the cuts as “a barbaric move,” Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Healdsburg and the president pro tempore of the California State Senate, listed some of the impacts: “330 truckloads of food for California food banks — gone… That’s milk, eggs, vegetables, and meat pulled out from under families and seniors who need it most.”

Larger than Local

Other communities nationwide are also “reeling” from the cuts, according to CNN reporting. These include the Fresno-based Central California Food Bank, which learned of the cancellation of $850,000 worth of groceries, and the Capital Area Food Bank of Washington, D.C., described as “scrambling to replace $1.3 million in food deliveries that have been canceled.”

According to McGuire’s March 23 statement on the cuts, the shipments come through the USDA’s emergency food assistance program, under which food banks can order items they need, such as canned vegetables, milk, dried fruit, frozen meats, eggs and more. The USDA covers the cost of the food orders.

“California had been receiving about $50 million worth of food annually from the discretionary fund, typically in quarterly shipments,” McGuire posted on Facebook. “These latest quarterly shipments are what was cancelled. We’re still working to determine if this is a one-time cancellation or if this move will be made permanent.”

‘Covid-19 era programs’

At about the same time, the USDA defunded two programs that provided money for schools and food banks to purchase food from local and regional farmers and ranchers, which were characterized as “Covid-19 era programs.”

The programs, the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA), were both administered through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. They provided money to local support organizations to buy local foods, to provide fresh food and to support local farmers.

While implemented during the Covid era, they were renewed in October by the Biden administration, only to be cut last month by the USDA.

The USDA explained that by the cuts, it is “prioritizing stable, proven solutions that deliver lasting impact. The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward.”

Impact

REFB’s Mesheau said the impact could be dramatic. “Yes, the cancellation of the two Covid-era programs represents two separate blows to food support networks like ours,” she said.

Singling out the Local Food Purchase Assistance agreement, she added, “Especially the LFPA, which was critical in allowing us to purchase food directly from local farmers at market prices, which not only helped us provide fresh, nutritious food to our community but also supported farmers in building infrastructure that could eventually make their pricing more competitive.”

That long-range goal may have been lost by the cutbacks. “While local farmers alone cannot currently meet the scale of our need, we were hopeful that these partnerships would grow over time and strengthen regional food systems,” she added.

With the program’s cancellation, she said, “we will now need to source food from other suppliers that are more affordable, which may limit our ability to prioritize local purchasing.”

Regarding the USDA’s shift towards “prioritizing stable, proven solutions,” or more traditional food supply channels, Mesheau was cautious. “It’s still too soon to fully understand the implications of this change,” she said. But the challenges come from many directions.

“The loss of these programs means fewer opportunities to access food through federally funded initiatives, which will increase our reliance on independent food sourcing and donor support,” Mesheau said. “This shift will likely place additional pressure on our budget and operations as we work to maintain a balanced mix of nutritious offerings for those in need.”

UPDATE: Just minutes after this article went to press came the announcement from REFB that they “have made the difficult decision to pause egg purchases in order to better steward economic resources.” Eggs, an important protein source for 63,000 people in REFB’s network, have been available thanks to CalFood Program funding for the past four years – but CalFood “is facing a devastating 90% funding cut in July (from $62 million to $8 million), jeopardizing REFB’s ability to meet the growing needs.”

Donations of food, supplies, labor or money are always welcome at refb.org.

Simone Wilson contributed to this report.