This story was reported and written by VPM News.
An effort to connect Virginia public schools with local farms to improve food security in low-income communities won’t be getting any federal support beyond this summer’s harvest.
With President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk picking apart deeply rooted agencies and initiatives that sprouted during the previous White House administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has eliminated two nascent programs designed to help small farms supply local schools and food banks with fresh fruit, produce and meat.
“Over here in this neighborhood, the resources are a little bit slim when it comes to having fresh, sustainable vegetables and things of that nature,” Richmond Public Schools teacher Jevonna Thomas said after picking up curly kale, collard greens, spring onion and Fuji apples during a food distribution event at Armstrong High School. “I think this is a good idea. … If people see that it’s more accessible, then they’ll think it’s something they should have all the time. This is something they shouldn’t stop doing.”
Since its creation in 2022, the federal Local Food Purchase Assistance Program has awarded $13.6 million to Virginia.
While there was initial confusion about whether farmers would continue to get paid when the feds last month announced the program’s end, state officials said they will continue to meet funding obligations until July 15, the end date for this year’s cycle.
The USDA’s move eliminates more than $1 billion in federal spending nationwide. More than half of it — $660 million — was slated for school cafeterias. The rest helped stock church pantries, charitable food banks and school-related programs where students and families could get large bags of produce after school or during summer break.
Michael Wallace, communications director for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told VPM News that the state was in the process of expanding the program by applying for the Local Food for Schools grant before that initiative was also cut.
Virginia farmers, ranchers “pivoting” after cuts
“We had been counting on the news we received in December that the Department of Agriculture would be pursuing additional funding that would take us through 2028,” said Molly Harris, founder of Richmond-based Lulus Local Foods, an online fresh food hub that has helped the state dole out $1.3 million in grant funding to 137 farms and producers.
In turn, growers gave over 700,000 pounds of food to schools and pantries in the Richmond, Petersburg, Lynchburg, Danville and Williamsburg areas.
According to Harris, Lulus still has about $700,000 from the program until that July 15 cutoff. While she said it’s helpful, Harris was preparing to request $4 million in the next grant cycle, and the funding cuts are “definitely putting us in a place where we’re having to make a large pivot as to how to contend.”
Lulus is one of a dozen sub-grantees that partnered with the state for the USDA program. In the Harrisonburg area, nonprofit Vine & Fig managed funding for a network of 30 farms and partner organizations. Supported by the federal grant, the nonprofit’s Fresh Veggie Series involved food distribution from a school-run mobile cafe bus and donations to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
While the LFPA grant program funded food giveaways at after-school events and over holiday breaks, federal rules bar grantees from using the money to procure food for school-provided breakfasts and lunches. The Local Food for Schools program — which Virginia was preparing to apply for earlier this year — does not have that restriction.
In addition to supplying school families and food banks with fresh produce, the programs run by Vine & Fig and Lulus also include recipe cards and information to help families make more informed decisions about shopping for groceries, cooking at home and food safety.
Kathy Yoder, Vine & Fig’s director of educational outreach programming, said the USDA grant helped school administrators and government officials see that they can better feed and educate both students and the general public with additional support.
More simply put: She said it seems smarter to procure locally grown food rather than mass-produced meals made with crops grown across the country, packaged across borders and then shipped to Virginia.
Announcing plans to slash 10,000 employees and restructure the agency, the US Department of Health and Human Services last month said the shake-up’s goal is to combat chronic illness by “focusing on safe, wholesome food” and to “Make America Healthy Again.”
According to Yoder, these USDA cuts contradict the HHS’ ambition.
“The fact that this program was cut is somewhat surprising because it directly supports what Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of Health and Human Services, has been saying about the importance of improving the diets of all Americans by promoting an increase in fresh foods and decreasing processed food,” Yoder said. “Plus, it puts dollars directly into building a local economy.”
John Bryant, owner of Old Tavern Farm in New Kent County, said the USDA funding cuts could take away about $25,000 in annual revenue for his business. Beyond the mid-summer cutoff date for the program, Bryant said he will need to find new buyers for the produce he planned to grow this year for the program.
“All the seed and labor that’s gone into it, it’s all been spent,” he said. “We’ve already spent the money, and now we’ve lost a revenue stream that we were counting on.”
Despite similar initiatives, USDA cuts are “devastating”
Explaining the purpose of the cuts, the USDA last month said the two programs were created under an executive order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement to the Associated Press.
A 2022 USDA press release announcing the LFPA program stated it was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act, a major pandemic relief bill Congress passed in 2021. The program is also designed to target “underserved” farmers, ranchers and communities. Beyond getting rid of COVID-related initiatives, Trump has targeted cuts to government programs and agencies promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Democratic Party leaders and school nutrition advocacy groups have decried the USDA decision.
Alexis Bylander, a policy director for the DC-based nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, said the movement toward scratch-cooked meals with local produce is not new, but the federal funding helped make it realistic for local school districts.
“These cuts are really devastating to students, school cafeterias and local farmers,” she told VPM News. “And now, with all of the economic uncertainty out there and rising food costs, this was a time to at least continue — if not expand — a local food purchasing agreement. It certainly is not a time to cut them.”
Bylander said the Trump administration’s urgency in pulling back federal spending leaves states and communities to pick up the slack. Though some may have plans or alternatives in place, she said there doesn’t seem to be many other significant funding streams opening up yet.
Making matters worse, Bylander said budget proposals presented in Congress earlier this year would slash funding for school meals programs by $12 billion over the next decade: “That would really roll back a lot of progress that has been made with school meals, and would result in a lot of children losing access to the free school meals that they get now and really rely on.”
The Virginia Department of Education helps fund farm-to-school initiatives through the Virginia Food for Virginia Kids program. Lori Nelson, a school nutrition advocate with the Chef Ann Foundation, said she and her organization have been working with VDOE to expand scratch-cooking and local food procurement in 24 school districts, spanning Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Henrico, Chesterfield, Prince Edward and Fairfax counties.
Describing schools as the country’s largest restaurants, Nelson said feeding students every day is an incredible endeavor with a moral duty.
“You can have the best educators in the classroom. But if kids are not fed and they’re hungry, if they don’t know where their next meal is coming from, they’re not going to be able to retain that information,” she said. “I think food is the great equalizer and the key to success in our nation’s schools.”
The Chef Ann Foundation supported the districts in a series of yearly cohorts since the state program’s launch in 2022. While the foundation has shared technical expertise, it’s unclear how the state and those localities could keep implementing those lessons without additional funding.
Officials from the Virginia Department of Education did not respond to VPM News requests for comment or an interview.
Farm-to-community initiatives “better” after two years of USDA program
With her bags of produce gathered out front of Armstrong High School, Thomas, the Richmond Public Schools teacher, said she planned to make caesar kale salads for her family sometime in the next week during the district’s spring break.
A week later, volunteers and managers at the Birdhouse Farmers Market assembled donations for a Virginia Commonwealth University student food bank. The week’s order for the Ram Pantry, subsidized by the USDA program, included fresh eggs and ground beef from Studley Farm in Mechanicsville, and collards and kale from Old Tavern Farm in New Kent.
Bryant, the owner of Old Tavern Farm, said he’s seen how all kinds of people rely on the LFPA program and other initiatives that distribute fresh produce to people in need. He said he’s glad to help but worries many people don’t realize how much relief a free box of fresh squash or leafy greens can offer.
“The older I’ve gotten and realized that problems are so complicated, you see politicians try to just simplify them because nobody wants to hear the whole thing,” he said.
Harris said the impending end of the grant program has caused some stress. Nonetheless, she said she’s optimistic that other community organizations and government officials can be convinced to help support farm-to-school and food pantry initiatives.
“It's much better than it was five or 10 years ago,” she said. “We're finally making some headway. And I feel like I've made a win here with a few of these school districts that are taking leadership roles in this. There’s no reason why we couldn’t get this going throughout the state, throughout the country.”
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