Trump administration terminates billion-dollar food program for schools, food banks

Plus, a GOP bill in Missouri would funnel more tax money to anti-abortion pregnancy centers. 

As a part of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s austerity regime, more than $1 billion in funds used by the Department of Agriculture towards schools and local food banks have been cut. The vast majority of these funds, some $660 million, are dedicated to educational and child care institutions through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), which allows them to purchase large sums of food from nearby farms and ranches. 

The announcement came last Friday, leaving the over 40 states who signed on to the program — and the communities that depend on LFS — with little warning. Funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFP), the LFS’s sister program designed specifically for food banks, was also slashed. 

While the first round of funding towards both LFS and LFP, which was confirmed under the Biden administration last October, will be unfrozen, the second portion will not be allocated in fiscal year 2025. 

Such cuts will have a substantial impact on Heartland communities. In Illinois, where $26 million in LFP and LFS funding was earmarked, officials were quick to delineate the harm.

“This loss in support for our farmers, especially those from communities that have historically been disinvested in, is a loss for everyone in our state,” Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Dulce M. Quintero said.

Indeed, last year, Chicagoland households that leaned on food pantries and grocery programs rose by 57% compared to 2020 statistics. 

And in the Hawkeye State, the Iowa Food System Coalition reacted to the loss of $11 million. 

“It is outrageous to think that this promise to Iowa farmers, schools, food banks, and childcare centers could be broken. This could not come at a worse possible time as farmers have already planned their season," the coalition’s executive director, Chris Schwartz, told KGAN. 

Schwartz also pointed to the impact this would have on farmers and others in the agriculture industry who rely on the funds. 

"In greenhouses across Iowa, the plants are already sprouting up, processing time in meat lockers has already been booked, seeds have been ordered, money spent, and countless hours of planning have been done. Now we are going to pull the rug out at the 11th hour and leave these folks out to dry,” Schwartz added. 

Freshman Missouri state Rep. Christopher Warwick (R-Bolivar) introduced a bill last month that will allow residents to avoid paying any state income taxes if they donate to anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers.

If passed into law, House Bill 1176 would allow up to a 100% tax credit capped at $50,000 per taxpayer for those who redirect their tax bill to crisis pregnancy centers. Missouri already offers a similar 70% credit, which went into effect in 2021. However, the new bill could allow millions of public tax dollars — used to fund things like health care, transportation services and fire departments — to instead be funneled into the pregnancy centers.

These centers are known to mislead women with unethical data and information to persuade them out of getting an abortion.

Warwick did not respond to a request to comment on how this bill would help the state of Missouri at-large. ProPublica reported that supporters of the bill say it will give taxpayers more control of where their money goes and help give pregnant women alternatives to abortion.

In a statement to ProPublica, reproductive rights lawyer Katie Baylie called the bill an insult to Missourians.

“A 70 percent tax credit with no cap was excessive. A 100 percent tax credit is absurd. It is an insult to Missourians that our lawmakers are spending time even considering this bill,” Baylie said.

Abortion providers in Missouri resumed offering the procedure last month after voters approved a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights last November. Despite the vote, the Missouri Republican Party has been attempting to find workarounds by introducing controversial legislation. One bill would create what the author described as “eHarmony for babies” and direct the state government to create a database to track pregnant women “at risk of seeking an abortion.”