Food assistance programs starved by fed funding cuts

LOWELL — The gulf between the haves and the have-nots just got a whole lot wider thanks to $1 billion in cuts made earlier this month by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to food assistance programs like the Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

The Trump administration cut $500 million in funding from the Local Food Purchase Assistance program and paused another $500 million from The Emergency Food Assistance Program.

LFPA funding helped the MVFB purchase fresh food directly from local farmers for distribution to local pantries and community organizations. The food bank received an LFPA grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources through the USDA.

“These funds are intended to purchase food from smaller farms,” MVFB Executive Director Deb Callery said by email Tuesday. “We purchased fresh greens from Horne Family Farm (Londonberry, N.H.), honey from Fat Daddy’s Apiary (Sterling, MA), and Mill City Grows connected us with several individuals that they work with, farming small plots in and around Greater Lowell.”

Cuts to LFPA means that unless the food bank receives funding from another source, they may not be able to purchase from these local small farms. The LFPA agreements will be terminated following a 60-day notification period.

MVFB has been feeding families since 1981, largely through bulk food it receives from the USDA and the state through TEFAP. Cuts to that program will have a much wider organizational and community impact.

The food distribution hub on Middlesex Street in Lowell’s Highlands neighborhood collects, stores and supplies food to community-based emergency feeding programs that directly provide meals to those in need.

“Together, we work to make sure no one goes hungry,” Callery said.

The nonprofit serves more than 30 cities and towns and distributes nearly 4 million pounds of food each year. MVFB serves an average of 70,000 people each month through partnerships with over 100 member agencies including food pantries, meal programs, shelters and schools, seniors and veterans, as well as through several direct-service hunger-relief programs.

“Our Mobile Pantry Senior Feeding program delivers groceries to homebound seniors, and we drop 250 bags monthly at the Council on Aging here in Lowell,” Callery said.

Its Summer Eats program provides food to 13 sites in Lowell during a six-week period. Last year, that food supply prepared 12,000 lunches for the program.

The Lowell Youth Leadership Program is a local nonprofit that depends on the food bank to run its summer program. The free program launched in 2022, and 130 Lowell residents, aged 10 to 16, enjoyed 15 days of sports, robotics, banking skills, rock climbing, contemporary dancing, swimming, and crafts. By its second summer in operation, more than 40 kids were on the waitlist.

For the past three years, LYLP has relied on MVFB for the breakfasts and some lunches for its now 180 campers. Cuts to TEFAP could jeopardize that outreach.

“That food is currently not in the budget so we’d either have to fundraiser for it or find food donations elsewhere,” LYLP Executive Director Lisa Ansara said by email Tuesday. “We greatly appreciate our partnership with the Food Bank and know that if these cuts are made we won’t be the only ones who will be affected.”

The food bank is also a critical partner for Lowell Public Schools.

“If your stomach is grumbling, you can’t learn,” Community Outreach Strategist Jen Myers said by email.

The majority of LPS students come from low-income families who may bolster their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits with visits to area food pantries supplied by the MVFB.

“Cuts that impact MVFB will be devastating for our students and their families,” Myers said. “At this time, the best thing concerned people can do is to support our local non-profits like MVFB that every day do the work to rise people up, fill their bellies, and make the city a better place.”

House Republican lawmakers are considering additional federal funding cuts including a $230 billion reduction in SNAP, which advocates say would cause unprecedented hardship and hunger and further strain MVFB’s food outreach programs.

Taking food off the plates of children and families is “cruel,” said U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan.

“The Trump administration’s cruel cuts to food assistance are an outright attack on families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” she said by text on Tuesday. “These cuts don’t just take food off the table – they undermine the tireless work of organizations like the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, which are often the last line of defense against hunger. No child in America should have to go to bed hungry or skip lunch at school so Republicans’ billionaire donors can get another tax cut.”

Callery said there are still a lot of unknowns about what lies ahead for MVFB and other organizations working to combat food insecurity. Washington is also considering cuts to other federal programs, such as Women, Infants and Children, and Medicaid, which would lead to an increased number of people needing services from MVFB and the 100 member agencies they partner with.

But she’s certain of one thing: That MVFB will continue their mission to end hunger in the community.

“With our community’s support the team at MVFB will continue to work tirelessly to assist everyone in our region who is facing food insecurity,” Callery said. “We wholeheartedly believe that nobody should have to go to bed hungry, and will be doing everything in our power to make that vision a reality.”