The United States Agriculture Department (USDA) recently canceled $1 billion in funding that allowed schools and food banks to buy food from local suppliers. This move comes at a time when schools are already feeling anxious about the rising cost of healthy food, and more people are turning to food banks to supplement their grocery bills.

The USDA cuts affect two programs: the Local Food for Schools Program, and the Local Food Purchase Assistance. For local organizations like Share Food Program, the leading hunger relief organization in the Philadelphia region and one of the largest independent food banks in the nation, the stakes couldn’t be more dire.

“We are looking at this like the pandemic … The only difference between then and now is that this, unlike the pandemic, is very much self-inflicted on Americans by our sitting U.S. president.” — George Matysik, Share Food

“Ultimately, the $1 billion cut is not just trimming the fat,” explains Jess Bautista, chief communications officer at Share Food. “This is directly targeting hungry children, hungry families and farmers — while hunger is already rising. All of this is happening at the same time when they’re proposing cuts to SNAP, to WIC, to school meals. This is the perfect storm.”

Because Share Food has such a large reach, these cuts will ultimately affect thousands, if not millions, of Philadelphians. Share Food distributed the equivalent of over 30 million meals to individuals, families and food pantries in 2024. They have served over 300,000 students through the National School Lunch Program. And, they spend big locally: Share Food projects they will spend $1.6 million on local products in their current fiscal year.

I sat down with George Matysik, Executive Director of Share Food Program (whom I first spoke with around this time last year), to find out how these cuts will affect the region, and if there is anything that can be done to help.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Why are these cuts important?

Under our city and state, we have been finally starting to see the reversal of the negative impacts we saw from the previous Trump administration and from the pandemic. Now, we are having to grapple with an overall reduction in all types of resources coming to our communities and organizations like ours. We’ve seen a 120 percent increase in need over the last three years. And that will only increase with these cuts.

The reality that we are dealing with now is that food prices are continuing to go up. Income for the families that we’re serving is continuing to stay stagnant. And the amount of resources that we have to be able to serve those folks is going down by the day. We are very much looking at this like the pandemic. We are in a crisis situation right now. The only difference between then and now is that this, unlike the pandemic, is very much self-inflicted on Americans by our sitting U.S. president.

How will these cuts affect Share Food?

We’re unique in that we actually feel the impact of the cuts to both the Local Food for Schools Program, and the Local Food Purchase Assistance. Not only are we the food bank for the region, but we also are the distributor of all the national school lunch food for the region (we’re actually the only nonprofit in the country that manages a contract like that).

For us in particular, we are seeing less fruits and vegetables, less lean proteins and dairy products, at a time when the cost of all of those products is going through the roof. All told, there is close to about $40 million in cuts to programs across PA, and ultimately it’s leading to reducing the amount of fresh food that individuals, half of which are kids, are able to get on a daily basis. For families that are already hurting and are already trying to figure out how to make ends meet and afford their groceries at the grocery store, to be attacking them in this way is unconscionable.

What kind of notice were you given that these programs would see cuts?

None. These cuts really came out of nowhere. These USDA programs have been in place for years, and we have used them to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products from PA farmers in the past. About $1.4 million that we would’ve spent on that product for this upcoming year was just canceled overnight with no warning that this was going to be happening. It was done by executive action without any conversation or input from Congress or any other branches of government.

Have you been made aware of when these cuts will go into effect and when you will stop seeing that money?

Essentially, effective immediately. And this is on the heels of us also seeing a number of USDA product shipments canceled on us — food that was already supposed to be coming. We’ve seen a reduction in total of probably about $8 million in food and funding (almost 20 percent of our total budget) that would have been coming to us at Share Food.

So these are huge cuts across the board. Many of the schools that we work with had already put in orders for the upcoming year of fruits and vegetables for their kids. We had signed contracts with them. So we basically had to go back to them and say, Sorry, the federal government has pulled this program out from under us, as we’re preparing for the next school year.

How will these cuts affect school lunches specifically?

Right now we serve about 800 schools throughout Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester counties, and we will continue to serve all these schools with the food that we have coming in. However, if the federal government continues to make cut after cut, one of our big fears in working with the School Nutrition Association of PA is that we are seeing less and less resources going to schools at a time when the cost to produce those meals is only going up. So there’s real fear out there with many of the school nutrition professionals that we work with. People are already struggling to put good nutritious food on kids’ plates, and Washington is continuing to pull resources away from that program. School lunch as we know it may soon disappear.

“Part of our hope is that, in the coming year as we are making these tough decisions, our community comes up and stands side-by-side with us again as we tackle another crisis in front of us.” — George Matysik

These particular cuts will reduce the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are sourced locally from PA farmers, that Philadelphia-area school districts are able to serve. The challenge is, this is one of dozens of cuts that we’re seeing being proposed by this administration right now for core programs that are keeping kids fed and the many families that we serve getting the food that they need. If it was only one cut that would be one thing, but it feels like, with the current temperature in Washington, the cuts are only just beginning.

How will the cuts affect local farmers?

Much of the USDA funding for food banks (either in direct funds or the purchase of commodities) is the mirror of how much money gets spent in the farming industry. Governor Shapiro is actually suing the Trump administration for this exact issue.

What impact does eating less fruits and vegetables have?

The effect is not just on school kids; this is affecting our food pantries as well. The reality is that fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly in food deserts, are the hardest foods to get, especially at a good cost. We often find that when you’re making tough choices at the grocery aisle, a lot of times the first things that have to go are those fruits and vegetables. One of the number one things that we’ve also been buying over the last six months has been eggs. This touches the hundreds of thousands of folks that we’re serving.

Is the plan for Share Food to scale back from what you were doing in order to conserve funding?

Our goal is to keep the same level of service, but we also have to recognize the reality that we’re dealing with. One of the great benefits we saw during the pandemic when resources were scarce is that the community and funders came up in unprecedented ways to support organizations like Share. And so part of our hope is that, in the coming year as we are making these tough decisions, our community comes up and stands side-by-side with us again as we tackle another crisis in front of us.

What are some things that people can do to support Share Food at this time?

We ask that folks continue to volunteer with us, donate food and funding, and stay in the fight with us. Conversation with our legislators is also important for us to continue fighting for our working families across Pennsylvania. At a time when we’re already facing a potential Constitutional crisis, we need to help give our legislators the courage they need to stand up to the executive branch.

We are blessed in PA that we have a governor who has continued to support universal school breakfast and has helped find more funding for food banks over the course of his tenure. Our state officials have really stepped up to the plate and in many ways provided stability at this time of complete disruption from the federal government. On the federal side, our members of Congress and our senators are important to reach out to and let them know about these impacts of food security.

I’m not one to usually get out there and plead for funding but, as we are navigating all of this, our financial stability is more important than ever.

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