Over the past several weeks, farmers and farm groups with USDA grant contracts have been reeling from uncertainty caused by the agency’s funding freeze. At the same time, cancellation letters terminating individual grant contracts based on stated commitments to equity and diversity began to trickle in.
Now, deeper cuts are coming into focus. Last night, Marcia Brown at Politico reported the agency officially ended two local food programs expanded under Biden to connect small farms to school meals and hunger assistance programs like food banks. Organizations with active contracts in those programs told Civil Eats they were devastated by the cuts.
And more cuts are likely: According to an internal USDA document viewed by Civil Eats, staff that cover programs under the agency’s Farm Production and Conservation mission area were given a flowchart to help them determine which funds to…
Read the full article originally published at civileats.com.