California farmers fight back after Trump administration’s cuts to USDA programs

This article was produced by Capital Main It is published here with permission Every year brings its own unique challenges for California farmers water shortages fires finding laborers to do the work bureaucrats in Sacramento adding new requirements and fees and more But the second term of President Donald Trump has made this year very different As part of deep cuts across much of the authorities the administration of President Donald Trump chopped billion from the U S Department of Agriculture almost without warning This led to widespread financial pain that affected already struggling farmers and left hungry patrons of food banks in a great number of parts of the country desperate for other sources of healthy food On Feb California leaders warned farmers who had grown food for schools and food banks that there was funding only for work done up to Jan despite the fact that farmers had submitted invoices for work and harvests past that date California farmers hastily organized a phone call and email campaign over the span of seven days in early March to demand the attention of elected representatives and answers from federal representatives By March their efforts were flourishing They would receive pay for the fall and for harvests for the rest of this year But their success was overshadowed by news that the project would stop at the end of For Bryce Loewen a farmer who co-owns Blossom Bluff Orchards in Fresno County the first freeze in funding meant that the USDA failed to hand over more than it owed the business for growing food to help feed Californians who could not afford it There isn t really a good time to get stiffed for your work But during winter the slowest season on the farm there s downtime and California farmers like Loewen in recent days used that lull to fight to regain the money farmers were owed and help feed particular of their largest part vulnerable neighbors A farmer s instinct is to fix things Loewen mentioned And that s what we did Loewen s farm is in the small town of Parlier which has a declining population of less than On March Loewen picked up the phone to call federal executives to change their minds about the funding cut Farming is a business of slim margins and Loewen was trying to keep his farm from falling into debt he commented Loewen was just one of multiple farmers in California and around the country who called and emailed personnel that day They required why they hadn t been paid and they described the economic benefit of the USDA funds to small farms and constituents wellbeing services and to agencies that feed people in their own communities who are struggling Loewen left messages and wrote emails to Rep Jim Costa D-Fresno Brooke Rollins the Secretary of Agriculture and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a Democrat from New York Other farmers also contacted Rollins their local representatives and congressional and Senate leadership on both sides of the political aisle California s vast Central Valley supplies a quarter of all food to the United States The USDA did not respond to calls and emails from Capital Main about why the cuts were made or why they were restored Neither the USDA nor Rollins have publicly acknowledged hearing from farmers about the cuts In securing payments for slightly more than nine additional months the farmers relative success might offer lessons for other groups targeted by governing body cuts as they seek to claw back selected tools for crucial programs California may be world famous for its beaches Hollywood and Big Tech but multiple people don t realize that the state s vast Central Valley supplies a quarter of all food to the United States In the Golden State agriculture is the backbone of multiple local economies from the state s southern frontier with Mexico all the way to its northern demarcation with Oregon This is especially true in the state s agricultural heartland Yet several residents who live in what dust-bowl musician Woody Guthrie once referred to as the Pastures of Plenty cannot afford the fresh locally grown food that surrounds them in the region s villages and towns The Healthy Fresno County Neighborhood Dashboard which publishes local medical information revealed that of the county s million residents in were considered food insecure Those rates were higher for the county s Black and Hispanic residents in comparison to their white peers Since the USDA has used the term food insecurity to describe the status that leads to weakness illness and harm to families who lack stable access to food It disproportionately affects lower-income groups in the state Food insecurity includes the inability to afford a balanced diet fear that a home s food supply won t last or having to eat less because one can t afford to buy more food An insecure food supply causes physical pangs of hunger in adults as well as stress and depression particularly in mothers Limited food intake affects brain evolution in children prompting stress among preschoolers and affecting a pupil s ability to learn basic subjects such as math and writing In California of adults with low incomes published limited uncertain or inconsistent access to food in according to a California Wellness Interview Survey Loewen s farm helps feed specific struggling Californians with the help of money through a million federal effort called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Effort The California Department of Social Services distributes the funds across the state through a campaign called Farms Together Farmers weren t the only ones to feel the pain of the USDA cuts between late February and March disclosed Paul Towers executive director of Society Alliance With Family Farmers His organization helps distribute food from small farms to food banks and school districts During a two-week period food banks did not receive any such food which left people who rely on that food aid to scramble for something to eat That s two weeks of lost income for farmers Towers mentioned And two weeks of no food Farmers learned from a Feb email from the California Department of Social Services that the USDA was late in paying for the fall s harvest The short message noted that the state was able to pay only for work done up to Jan which was the last day of Joe Biden s presidency The calling and email campaign began the next day Within six days California farmers discovered that the USDA wasn t solely late with the fall payment The federal agency also planned to end the local food activity altogether before the start of In a March letter to the California Department of Social Services obtained by Capital Main USDA Agricultural Marketing Operation Deputy Administrator Jack Tuckwiller noted that termination of the award is appropriate The USDA ultimately honored invoices for the fall There was no explanation about how the decision was made But the farmers limited preeminence was overshadowed by concerns about the large threats to residents wellness and local economies when such programs end for good at the end of the year Nationwide million Americans were food insecure in according to the USDA Largest part of those people live in rural counties such as Fresno County according to Feeding America a national organization of food banks and pantries By March news of the cuts was spreading The online agriculture and food agenda news outlet Agri-Pulse warned in a headline Trump administration cancelling local food initiatives On March Fox News highlighted the cuts to farmers who voted disproportionately in favor of Trump during his presidential campaigns in a live interview with Rollins America s Newsroom anchor Bill Hemmer urged Rollins to justify the billion cuts in food assurance aid to schools and food banks Rollins offered conflicting responses The cuts were to pandemic-era food programs and were aimed at new and nonessential programs she noted Rollins disclosed the operation s cost had grown but didn t offer any evidence to back that up The initial iteration of the local food purchasing assistance the Farmers to Families Food Box Effort was a multibillion dollar pandemic food aid project started during Trump s first term But Rollins didn t share that detail Speaking of other cuts made the day before the interview she added that executives had canceled more contracts on food justice for trans people in New York and San Francisco obviously that s different than the food programs in the schools but it is really key The local food purchase agreement didn t and still doesn t favor food aid or food justice to trans people It pays for farmers to grow food that goes to food banks and school districts Rollins didn t acknowledge that the cuts were overzealous or the harm that they might cause As we have perpetually disclosed if we are making mistakes we will own those mistakes and we will reconfigure but right now from what we are viewing the local food purchase assistance initiative was nonessential It was a new scheme and it was an effort by the Left to continue spending taxpayer dollars that was not necessary Rollins communicated Fox News On March the District Alliance With Family Farmers posted on its blog The reinstatement of Farms Together is a triumph worth celebrating Through collective action the voices of farmers and allies were heard but the fight isn t over Farms Together IS restored though only temporarily Our intent Towers commented was to make sure Secretary Rollins heard directly from farmers that they were harmed by the cuts to these programs Capital Main is an award-winning nonprofit publication that reports from California on the largest part pressing economic environmental and social issues of our time including economic inequality environment change medical care threats to democracy hate and extremism and immigration Copyright Capital Main