3/27/25: This post has been updated to include comments from USDA
Speaking at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in Dauphin County, near Harrisburg, on Tuesday, Governor Josh Shapiro directed the state’s agriculture secretary to appeal a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to terminate a contract that connects food from 189 Pennsylvania farms with 14 food banks.
“My administration is demanding that the federal government rescind their termination notice and honor their obligations under this agreement,” Shapiro said.
The USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program started in 2021 using $400 million in covid-recovery funds. USDA renewed its $13 million, 3-year contract with Pennsylvania in December 2024.
“If the USDA does not rescind this termination, hear me on this, we are prepared to take further legal action to protect our farmers and ensure that those who are hungry get fed,” Shapiro said.
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank has received $1.8 million in support over the past 15 months through the program, according to CEO Joe Arthur. Loss of the funding means, “500,000 meals a month not going to children, not going to the adults that we serve,” he said.
In the letter to Pennsylvania terminating the contract, USDA said the program no longer
“aligns with their priorities,” according to Shapiro.
“It’s hard for me to see how partnering with our farmers and feeding people doesn’t align with the federal government’s priorities,” Shapiro said.
According to the USDA website, the LFPA program was intended to assist farmers because it would expand markets, “and place an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved farmers and ranchers.”
The Trump administration has taken aim at programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Chris Hoffman, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, which represents 27,000 farmers in the state, said the cuts will impact the nearly 200 farmers “that are relying on where their products are going to go, that they’ll be able to get paid for them and that they’ll have a market that they’re planning on.”
One such farmer is Amy Brickner of Destiny Dairy Bar in Carlisle. She said the grant helped her small farm cover expenses of jugs and labels for extra bottled milk that would otherwise have gone to waste. “It helped prevent the waste of that short shelf life product and most importantly, it put 13 essential nutrients, wholesome whole milk into the hands of people in need.”
The cuts to Pennsylvania are part of more than $1 billion in food assistance cutbacks announced by the USDA this month.
“There is nothing unlawful about sunsetting a time-limited, pandemic-era initiative that does not align with the current Departmental priorities,” said an agency spokesperson in an email to The Allegheny Front. “The covid era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward.”
However, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is seeing a growing need.
“We’re now distributing more food than in the height of the pandemic,” said Colleen Young, director of Government Affairs. The need for their assistance rose 11% from January 2025 from the previous year. Young is concerned about the loss of funds from the LFPA program, and other food assistance cuts by the USDA and in the Farm Bill.
“They are literally taking food out of the mouths of kids all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and all across the nation,” said state Rep. Justin Fleming, of Dauphin County.
“Investments in our food bank and our charitable food system are so important to me because I was one of those kids who didn’t have enough to eat,” he said, lauding Gov. Shapiro for attempting to hold the administration accountable to its contract with Pennsylvania farmers and food providers.
