'Don't understand the logic': Local response to USDA cutting grants for schools, food banks to buy from nearby farms

 

RICHFIELD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- News the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was ending a program that paid schools and food banks to buy from local farms couldn't have come at a worse time for the Happy Day Farmhaus. Co-owner Lauren Padovano explained she and her husband had just planted seedlings Tuesday for crops they were specifically growing for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement.

The program is one of two funds that provided more than $1 billion to schools and food banks to cover the purchase of produce and meat from nearby farmers. 

A February 2024 release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) listed nine different food banks received the state's share of grant money, which amounted to $1.5 million.

Of that Wisconsin share, $250,000 went to the Hunger Task Force, which primarily serves Milwaukee but used the aid to provide fruit, vegetables and meat to 114 pantries in 29 different counties.

"The program was really a win-win for both farmers and the communities we serve," task force CEO Matt King said Tuesday. "And so, I really don't understand the logic."

King said the access to locally sourced produce was increasingly valuable since the task force is now serving about 50,000 people per month after 30% increase in demand over the past year.

"We were able to help those people have access to fresh, healthy and locally raised products," he said. "And at the same time, support our local agricultural industry and support small farmers."

The Hunger Task Force partnered with eight different Wisconsin farms, including Happy Day Farmhaus. Padovano said the farm was asked to grow eggplant, tomatillos and garlic. She said those seedlings went into planters Tuesday before they learned of the USDA plans to phase out the program.

Padovano said there won't be enough demand outside of the food bank for those crops, so if the funding doesn't come through for this season, the farm will have to revisit what it's doing with that share of the Washington County land.

"Usually, we're out focused on growing things at this point," she said. "Whereas now, we're gonna have to be like, 'OK, what's next?' and kind of going back to our winter tasks that we normally don't have to be doing right now."

Both the farm and the local food assistance program hatched from the COVID-19 pandemic amid struggles to find a direct connection for fresh, locally grown produce.

The USDA said in a statement Tuesday it had been planning a phaseout of the program because it was a COVID-era creation, and in the current leadership's view, it wasn't meant to be permanent.

Padovano maintained she believed it was a success and should continue to receive federal support.

"It just showed, like, how many issues there are in food access, so we were headed in the right direction," she said. "And it just seems like we're going backwards."