The Agriculture Department has halted millions of dollars worth of deliveries to food banks without explanation, according to food bank leaders in six states.
USDA had previously allocated $500 million in deliveries to food banks for fiscal year 2025 through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Now, the food bank leaders say many of those orders have been canceled.
The halting of these deliveries comes after the Agriculture Department separately added two other food programs, ending more than $1 billion in planned federal spending for schools and food banks to purchase from local farmers.
USDA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The collective cuts are expected to make it more difficult for food banks to meet families’ needs, with food prices now 20 percent higher than they were in 2020, food bank leaders say.
“I certainly look at our lines and look at our shelves and say we need some relief,” said Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which also reported canceled deliveries with no indication they would summarize.
For the Central California Food Bank, that means a loss of 500,000 pounds of expected food deliveries worth $850,000 just for April through July, according to co-CEO Natalie Caples. Cathy Kanefsky, president of the Food Bank of Delaware, said between 20 to 24 full truckloads of food were canceled for the next four months.
