CLEVELAND, Ohio – The shelves of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank will be emptier after the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly canceled 553,000 pounds of food that was expected to help those facing food insecurity.
The food bank learned on Tuesday that it is a victim once again of funding cuts under the Trump administration. Twenty semi-truck loads of food, worth $1 million, from the Emergency Food Assistance Program have been canceled.
Funding for the program comes from the Commodity Credit Corporation, which the USDA has used in various ways over the past decade to support farmers by purchasing additional food that is ultimately distributed to food banks across the country.
These cuts come on top of the recent elimination of the Local Food Purchase Assistance program earlier this month, which removed another one million pounds of food intended for Ohioans. That food would have passed through the food bank.
“We are completely disappointed and honestly sad,” said Greater Cleveland Food Bank President and CEO Kristin Warzocha.
Warzocha was hopeful last week that the food orders were not going to be canceled. All of the canceled food orders were scheduled for delivery between April and July.
Warzocha stressed that the funding cuts under the Trump administration will have a significant negative impact on Greater Cleveland.
“These are cuts to really effective programs that not only provide healthy food to people in need but also support farmers. This is a terrible disappointment and is going to make our work significantly more difficult,” she said.
She also noted that the Food Bank staff only discovered the cancellations when an employee checked the status of the orders. In the past, she said, there had been direct communication between the food bank, the USDA, and the state regarding such changes.
The food bank, which relies heavily on federal and state funding, is now concerned about the shortfall and is urging the community to step up in response.
Meanwhile, Warzocha said they must now hope for state support, but Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed budget includes a significant reduction in food bank funding, cutting it from $32 million to $24.5 million— a decrease of $7.5 million.
“During the pandemic, our community stepped up and helped us buy food to respond to the rising need. During the last recession, our community stepped up,” she said. “This is a generous community, and we are absolutely going to need their help.”
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