Farmers in Western North Carolina are bracing for the elimination of two federal programs that allowed schools and food banks to purchase millions of dollars of food from local farms.
The hit comes as farmers in Western North Carolina are struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene and waiting on billions in federal funds to help them.
The move, part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to cut federal spending, will eliminate the Local Food Purchase Assistance and Local Food for Schools programs. Both programs have been terminated for 2025, according to a USDA notice issued on March 7 to the State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the programs provide more than $1 billion in funding to bolster “local economies, ensuring food security, and fostering resilient agricultural communities nationwide.” North Carolina receives more than $15 million annually through the two programs.
One of the programs – the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program – allows food banks to purchase crops from local farms and distribute them to “underserved communities.”
North Carolina was slated to receive $11.4 million from the program this year.
Some went to MANNA foodbank, in Fletcher, which received just over $1.3 million to purchase “produce, eggs, dairy, grains, and meat directly from local and regional farms,” the organization said.
MANNA said it was notified the funding was terminated on March 7. The organization/nonprofit has until October to use the money it’s already received. The food bank serves 16 counties in the region and provides food to more than 100,000 people in need, according to its website.
A press release from the organization called the cuts “devastating, not merely because of the financial setback, but because it directly affects an essential lifeline connecting agriculture, regional economic well-being, and the health of WNC families.”
Over the last fiscal year, MANNA said it used this funding to source healthy food options from over 135 local farms within a 400-mile radius. A spokesman for the organization said the food bank will still work to buy food from local farmers, but will rely on money from the state or donations to do so.
“One of the most significant advantages of the…program is how it allows us to support many of the disadvantaged, small-scale, rural, and low-income farmers who are an important part of our local economy,” a press release from the foodbank stated.
The money MANNA received through the federal program was only a small part of its overall budget, but was used to support local farmers by paying market value for their crops.
“Many of these farmers are hurting since Helene and need access to reliable markets for their products. These farm-to-table partnerships not only strengthen our regional food systems but also ensure fresher, healthier products for families in need.“
Local farmers and students feel a loss
Jamie Ager is a fourth-generation farmer at Hickory Nut Gap farm, which sells meat to schools under the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement.
Farmers submit competitive bids to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to supply food to local schools.
It is unclear if school districts will find a new way to pay for food from local farmers after the cuts.
Buncombe County schools have received about $94,000 from the program since 2023, a spokesman for the district told BPR.
“[The program allows] us to continue our commitment to serving nutritious meals while supporting our local farmers. With this support, we have been able to purchase high-quality products from several local farms,” a statement from the district stated.
Asheville City Schools has used the program to purchase over $18,000 worth of ground beef from local farmers since 2023.
“We had anticipated participating in round two this year, so this will be an additional loss for our program, students and local farmers, in a local economy struggling to recover from the recent hurricane,” the district’s Chief Financial Officer, Heidi Kerns, told BPR.
Ager said while the contract is not a huge part of his income, he’ll feel the impact of losing the money.
“It's not insignificant,” he told BPR. “It'll affect us for sure.”
The bigger loss, Ager said, will be for the children in schools who are losing access to local food.
“ This momentum around ‘how do we get better food into schools’ is such a conceptually reasonable thing to do. And this program helped create momentum for that, and to cut it is just discouraging, because that movement needs some wins,” he said.
Ager, whose farm sits in Fairview, is still waiting on funds already allocated by Congress to help farmers recover from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene.
“ We don't have any money yet from any of that,” he said. “And so, it is like a kick them when they're down feeling.”
Note: This story was updated to reflect the proper spelling of Ager's name. We regret the error.
