Federal fund stoppages impair local food purchasing power

Graphic Credit: Mandy Coriston for Public Square Amplified

Trenton, NJ – The Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dealt New Jersey’s food system a devastating and disappointing blow in March with the cancellation of more than $26 million in funds slated for the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) cooperative agreement programs. These programs, administered by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS), allow organizations like food banks and schools to purchase food directly from local producers.

This institutional purchasing power strengthens relationships and resiliency within the local food value chain while providing fresh food for families and children and a dependable income stream for producers. The funding stoppage canceled that income stream for 46 New Jersey producers, including 32 USDA-defined ‘historically underserved producers,’ who now must find new markets for their goods or absorb the loss. The stoppage also leaves food banks and schools short on the products they need to fit their needs.

Local food purchasing supports NJ’s farmers and food system

Before the USDA federal funding cuts, New Jersey had been promised $16.2 million for the Local Food for School program, and $9.9 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, which provide critical support to the food system by building relationships and value chains between farmers, food banks, and schools. Without this funding, these programs can no longer be implemented in New Jersey, leaving food and farm systems advocates and officials in Trenton alike to ask the USDA to reconsider its decision. 

In 2023, $9.7 million in LFPA funds were used to found the Jersey Fresh for All program, led by the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, the New Jersey Food Democracy Collaborative, and The Common Market. Jersey Fresh for All connected producers who self-identified with the USDA definition of ‘socially disadvantaged’ to several of the state’s largest food banks and emergency food distribution hubs, providing fresh local food to food pantries in all 21 of New Jersey’s counties while paying those producers fair market value for their products, including fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, eggs, and seafood. The initial funding for Jersey Fresh for All concluded at the end of 2024.

Jeanine Cava, Executive Director of the New Jersey Food Democracy Collaborative, expressed disappointment about the loss of the LFPA funding after a successful 2-year pilot.  

"All the farmers that we spoke to during our evaluation of the Jersey Fresh for All program lauded the financial benefit that it had on their farm,” Cava said, “They liked being a part of it because it was a tremendous opportunity for the food they produce to go to their neighbors who need it and appreciate it, all while they benefited from a much-needed consistent revenue stream.”

“Furthermore,” Cava explained, “New Jersey's implementation of LFPA exceeded the threshold it set for itself in terms of sourcing from socially disadvantaged producers. For the program to be cancelled after all the effort that has gone into figuring out the best way to structure it, and assessing the pilot, it's just such a shame, such a lost opportunity for all involved."

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ) Executive Director Devin Cornea elaborated on the devastating effect of losing both the LFPA and LFS funding on New Jersey’s producers. 

“These programs were enabling farm businesses of all sizes and production practices to grow and invest in their future, all while feeding food-insecure households and our schoolchildren, many of whom get their only solid meal while at school,” Cornea said, “Many farms in New Jersey brought on staff, expanded production, invested in infrastructure, and planned their business model around these programs, and are now left wondering how to pivot to another market channel to make up for the lost income.” 

Graphic Credit: Mandy Coriston for Public Square Amplified

Funding stoppages are also a matter of public health

The funding stoppage not only affects the economy of local food production — it also impacts public health by limiting access to nutritious, minimally processed foods. With proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could also negatively affect the Summer EBT program, New Jerseyans could soon face even greater food insecurity. Across the state, more than 444,000 households received SNAP benefits in 2024, and over 550,000 children participated in the Summer EBT program, which provides benefits to purchase healthy food during the break between school years. 

Both NJ-SNAP and Summer EBT saw an increase in usage between 2023 and 2024, and Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study reported that New Jersey’s Black families experienced food insecurity at a rate 3.5 times higher than white families. The New Jersey Economic Development Agency is granting funds this year for innovative food systems projects within acute Food Desert Communities, of which five neighborhoods in Newark are among the top ten, but these granted projects do not specifically have to focus on purchasing power. According to Cornea, the elimination of the federal funding will have a ripple effect on long-term food system resilience. 

“The market is objective and unfeeling and is driven by cold, hard economics,” Cornea said, “Programs like LFPA and LFS have provided a win-win-win to make sure all parties along the food supply chain benefit. They are models for the future of stability, and we need to get them back.”  

It’s clear that if stop-gap or permanent funding is not found to make up the LFPA and LFS deficit, New Jersey families AND New Jersey farmers will continue to suffer the impacts of the senseless federal funding cuts.