‘Their budgets are tight’: Colorado nonprofits seeing impacts after billion dollar cuts from the USDA

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) -After the USDA cut federal programs allowing schools and nonprofits to source food from their local farms, organizations are working to fill the gap in financial support.

“We were slated to receive roughly $5.9 million to go to K12 school districts, 2.1 million dollars to go to childcare facilities, and I think it’s about $5 million to go to food pantries and food banks. So a substantial amount of money has disappeared,” said Jessica Wright, Nourish Colorado Director of Healthy Food and Institutions.

This comes as federal funding worth a reported $660 million dollars for the local food for schools program and $420 million for a local food purchase agreement to help food banks and other organizations give food to their communities, was wiped away by the USDA. Now, nonprofits are trying to figure out how they can supplement it, or else they say access to healthy food could be limited for financially vulnerable communities.

Wright said, “The cost for fresh produce is typically a bit more expensive than buying some of the chips and the soda and those types of items. So when we are cutting programs that give money that is directly incentivizing the use of those types of fresh whole products, that is reducing access to those items. ”

Last year, a law took effect that allows the Colorado State Health Department to distribute financial incentives to food banks and schools that source fresh food and produce from local farmers and ranchers.

We reached out to Care and Share food bank, a nonprofit that serves Colorado Springs and other parts of Southern Colorado. They told us that before the cuts, they had $1.6 million, which they used to invest in 14 local farms. They say they plan to work with USDA, the state of Colorado, and Congress to create programs that have a similar impact for farmers in the future.

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