TAYLOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — The USDA pausing $500 million worth of food delivery nationwide has local food banks and their partners pivoting to meet the need.
This comes after 2025 funding previously announced for the pandemic-era Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement (LFSCC) and pandemic-era Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program (LFPA25) is no longer available, and those agreements will be terminated.
A USDA spokesperson tells 7 News Detroit that the programs, created under the former Administration via Executive authority, do not meet their goals.
Gleaners Community Food Pantry of Southeast Detroit says they expect it to result in a 1.4 million pound deficit that, if they didn’t fill, would impact about 25,000 families. They distribute food to around 350 local pantries.
“We get that donated from retailers, manufacturers, and farmers, and we get all of that food in mass quantities that some of our partner agencies, soup kitchens, schools wouldn't be able to manage on their own, so we collect that large amount of food, we separate it out into orders that our partners can manage based on the households they serve, and then the households will get food directly from them or from our drive through operations that are around Southeast Michigan,” said Kristin Sokul, Senior Director of Advancement Communications, Marketing and Media/PR.
VIDEO: Kristin Sokul with Gleaners Community Food Bank talks ripple effect of funding cuts
They’re seeing the food delivery impact now and the financial impact the next fiscal year. LFPA and LFPA Plus agreements that were in place prior to LFPA 25, which still have substantial financial resources remaining, will continue to be in effect for the remainder of the period of performance.
“We’re starting to see that food lessen already, but in the months to come, it's only going to get worse in those truckloads that are not going to come directly to our facility with things like produce, shelf-stable items, meat, and milk,” said Sokul.
To fill the gap, they’ve also begun working on other options.
“We saw some of the writing on the wall in February, and we knew that to keep our commitment to the community, we weren't going to wait to find out what happened. We were going to start filling that. So we already were enacting some plans to increase our fundraising to help fill the anticipated. We're looking at all of our expenses to make sure that we can tighten our belt to fit it, and we've invested $250,000 of our own reserves to make sure that we can help our partner agencies still purchase the food that they need so households in the community can get that balanced nutrition,” said Sokul.
The ripple effect is that they might have to provide less to partner agencies, who then have to figure out how they will fill their gap, which means they may not be able to serve as much food as anticipated.
“We try to keep a variety of 65 to 75 different items at all times, and so as that variety continues to change or potentially not be available you could see that dwindle on our shelves as well. We’re going to do everything we can to prevent that, but it’s a reality,” said Stephanie McNees, CEO of Fish and Loaves Community Pantry in Taylor.
VIDEO: Stephanie McNees, CEO of Fish and Loaves Community Pantry, talks ripple effect of funding cuts
McNees says they’re ready to pivot and have gotten used to doing what they have to despite changes.
"It's a never-ending cycle of just trying to keep up and continue to provide for people," said McNees.
In 2024, Fish & Loaves distributed more than 3.4 million pounds of food to over 53,000 households throughout the community.
To volunteer, donate, or receive help, visit https://www.flcfp.org/needfood.html
People can make a donation, sign up to volunteer or learn more info about Gleaners at https://www.gcfb.org/ [gcfb.org].
