Davids Visits Farmers and School, Highlights Harm of Trump Cuts to Local Food Programs
OVERLAND PARK, KS – Today, Representative Sharice Davids visited the Kansas City Food Hub and Westridge Middle School to hear directly from local producers and school officials about how recent cuts to critical local food programs are hurting Kansas farmers and students. The visit is part of Davids’ ongoing Farm Bill Listening Tour, where she’s gathering input from Kansans ahead of negotiations on the next Farm Bill.
“From our family farmers to our school cafeterias, these local food programs have done exactly what they were designed to do: get nutritious food to students while creating stable, local markets for farmers,” said Davids. “Cutting them in the middle of the school year — without a plan to replace them — is reckless. I’m going to keep pushing for a bipartisan Farm Bill that puts Kansas families and producers first.”
Earlier this year, President Trump announced the elimination of two key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs: Local Food for Schools (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program. These initiatives have helped schools and food banks across the country source fresh, healthy food from local farmers — boosting regional economies and improving nutrition for kids and families.
In Kansas, nearly $4.7 million from LFPA helped food banks buy fresh, local products like fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, and honey from 95 approved Kansas farmers and ranchers. These goods reached 433 food pantries and mobile sites across 199 cities and 101 counties. Additionally, LFS supported 216 school districts and private schools, helping them purchase $1.7 million in locally raised, minimally processed meat from Kansas and nearby producers.
The decision to cancel the programs has already forced school districts and producers in Kansas to scramble for alternatives. Last month, Davids urged USDA Secretary Rollins to rethink this decision.
“At a time when farmers are facing increased input costs and significant uncertainty due to the indiscriminate funding freeze on certain USDA funds, and when grocery costs have not come down and more families are relying on food banks and school meals, it is reckless and cruel to cancel LFPA and LFS awards to states,” wrote Davids and her colleagues in a letter to Secretary Rollins.
Davids began today’s visit at the Kansas City Food Hub, which works to integrate locally grown food into the KC Metro supply chain. She toured their warehouse and spoke with producers about how the LPFA and LFS cuts will impact their operations. She then stopped by Westridge Middle School, where she heard from school administrators about the strain on their food budgets and the challenges of maintaining nutritious, locally sourced meals for students.
“Losing the LFPA and LFS programs will dramatically impact the work The KC Food Hub and its co-op farmers are doing to create a market so that farmers in our communities can feed their own communities,” said Thomas Smith, Chief Business Officer, The Kansas City Food Hub. “Not only will this cancel important food access programs and local food procurement contracts with schools, creating a less healthy heartland, but it will destroy the progress we have made in allowing our family farms to scale up and be able to create a more competitive and thriving local food economy.”
"Our commitment to serving local foods in school meals is rooted in supporting our local farming community and helping students understand where their food comes from,” said Grace I. Liss, Director of Food Services, Shawnee Mission School District. “By sourcing fresh, locally grown and raised ingredients, we strengthen the regional economy, reduce the environmental impact of long-distance food transport, and provide students with meaningful connections to their food. When funding for local food programs is lost, schools lose the ability to purchase from nearby farms — and students lose valuable opportunities to learn and engage. Continued support is essential to keep local foods on the tray and learning in every bite."
“The LFPA and LFS programs created new opportunities for urban and small-scale farmers to access wholesale markets and scale up their production to meet this new demand,” said Brien Darby, Executive Director, Cultivate KC. “When decisions about what foods are purchased are happening at the state level, then a larger number of Kansas farmers benefit, and there is greater representation of different scale of farmers. These programs are critical to the viability of local and regional food systems, as well as to the health of our communities – we urge USDA Secretary Rollins to restore funding that was allocated for this year and for these programs to be permanently authorized and funded in the next farm bill.”
To prepare for the Farm Bill discussions in Washington, Davids is on a Farm Bill listening tour, where she has visited a poultry and livestock operation in Anderson County, a co-op in Franklin County, a goat farm in Miami County, an organic vegetable farm in Johnson County, and an educational community farm in Wyandotte County. Davids also toured a Garnett-based renewable ethanol producer, participated in FFA activities at Spring Hill High School, served a school lunch at Black Bob Elementary in Olathe, spoke with industry leaders on financial support programs for farmers, toured a dairy farm in Garnett, and more.
Attendees of today’s visits included representatives from Cultivate Kansas City, the Food Circle, Harvester’s, the Kansas City Food Hub, the office of U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, the Shawnee Mission School District, and Westridge Middle School.