WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Division is ending two pandemic-era applications that offered greater than $1 billion for colleges and meals banks to buy meals from native farmers and producers.
About $660 million of that went to colleges and childcare facilities to purchase meals for meals via the Native Meals for Colleges program. A separate program offered cash to meals banks.
In Maine, the cash allowed the coastal RSU 23 college district to purchase meals instantly from fisherman, dairy producers and farmers for varsity meals, stated Caroline Trinder, the district’s meals and vitamin providers director.
“I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,” Trinder stated. “It’s the least processed, and we’re helping our local economy, we’re helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.”
The cuts will damage college districts with “chronically underfunded” college meal budgets, stated Shannon Gleave, president of the Faculty Diet Affiliation.
“In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers and is detrimental to school meal programs struggling to manage rising food and labor costs,” Gleave stated in an announcement.
USDA stated the applications are a legacy of the pandemic and not supported the company’s priorities.
“The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” a USDA spokesperson stated in an announcement.
Massachusetts acquired roughly $12 million in federal funding for varsity districts and childcare applications to purchase meals from native producers.
“The signaling that’s coming out of Washington in recent weeks, it’s obviously deeply disappointing,” stated Patrick Tutwiler, the state’s schooling secretary. “There’s clear misalignment around what is important and what matters. We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.”
Faculty vitamin administrators are bracing for potential rollbacks to applications that expanded funding for varsity meals, which for some kids will be their solely dependable supply of meals.
Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican’s tax invoice embody elevating the poverty degree wanted for colleges to supply common free meals with out an utility. Proscribing eligibility for meals help applications and requiring earnings verification without spending a dime or lowered worth college meals, two proposals for chopping prices, would additionally doubtless minimize out eligible households from accessing meals, the Faculty Diet Affiliation stated.