Latest USDA cuts will cost Wisconsin food banks more than $2 million

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Continued cuts to federal spending will now cost Wisconsin food banks more than $2 million, according to a letter officials at two of the state's biggest food banks received from state health officials.

Leaders at both the Hunger Task Force and Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin said they received a notification from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) informing them the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was making cuts to its Commodity Credit Corporation.

The program connects farmers with food banks, supplying them with surplus meats, dairy and produce. For Wisconsin, the USDA's cuts will cancel the planned shipments of more than one million pounds of food between June and September. The value of those deliveries is an estimated $2.2 million.

Matt King, CEO of the Hunger Task Force, said they're going to lose more than 300,000 pounds of food they were expecting with an estimated value of $615,000.

"It's disruptive," King said. "It definitely undermines our ability to provide variety."

King said the cuts will mainly cancel the delivery of meats, such as turkey breast and chicken leg quarters, as well as milk and cheese. King estimated the cuts amounted to 20% of the total food the Hunger Task Force expected to receive during those four months.

Aaron Rice, the chief development officer for Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin, said his food bank will also be losing out on a significant amount of meat and dairy products they'd been banking on.

"You're talking about your poultry, pork, dairy, produce," Rice said. "All of those items that, typically, a food bank won't see donated by individuals throughout the community."

Wisconsin food banks also had their funding slashed last month when the USDA made cuts to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, impacting nine food banks in the state.

That program facilitated contracts between small farms and food banks. King said the newest cuts will be even more impactful as they cover a larger amount of food. 

In a statement, the USDA defended the cuts, saying the commodities program had grown recklessly under the guise of pandemic aid. The Trump administration used similar reasoning for cutting the local food purchasing program.

"The Biden Administration inflated statutory programs with Commodity Credit Corporation dollars without any plans for long-term solutions," the statement read. "And even in 2024, used the pandemic as a reason to make funding announcements." 

"Additionally, USDA recently announced $261 million in available fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts, made possible through Section 32 purchases...Wisconsin is eligible for more than $3.8 million in products including tomatoes, grapes, pistachios, asparagus, apricots, strawberries, and peaches, among many others."

Both Hunger Task Force and Feeding America's local chapter said they'd continue to provide their typical amounts of food throughout the summer, including meat and dairy. The difference is the food banks will now pay for those items on their own, cutting spending on other goods they'd been planning.

"We have a strong inventory right now of canned, non-perishable food items," King said. "But what this really does is undercut our supply of those perishable items."

King said the cuts are a significant hurdle since the task force has seen a 30% increase in demand compared to last year, and it is now serving more than 50,000 people a month throughout its network of food pantries.

King added the cuts elevate the need for monetary donations, which would help the food bank purchase a greater number of non-perishable items. Rice said Feeding America, which serves nearly 400 food pantries across 35 Wisconsin counties, echoed that message. He said funded will become even more valuable in order to meet demand for meat and dairy products.

"These items aren't always readily available for us," he said. "It's a little bit harder when we start looking at what the bulk buying power is, and the purchase power is of the organization."