$1B in federal cuts could put a ‘dent’ in Georgia’s school food offerings. What to know.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently slashed more than $1 billion in federal spending, including eliminating two programs that helped Georgia schools and food banks buy fresh produce from local farms.

In March 2023, the USDA and Georgia officials announced the beginning of the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. The program provided the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Division with over $7.1 million to boost the state’s purchase of healthy, locally sourced foods for school meal programs, improve child nutrition and cultivate connections between local agriculture and schools.

State officials were notified on March 7 of the USDA’s decision to end the program, Politico reported.

Although the $7 million grant will remain effective and funded until June, budget cuts from the federal agency have resulted in a multimillion-dollar loss for Georgia’s public schools in the upcoming school years, Georgia Department of Education spokesperson Meghan Frick said.

“We were also rewarded a three-year LFS grant for over $15 million beginning next school year, but that has been terminated based on the communication we received last week,” Frick told The Telegraph via email.

The education department had not yet made any allocations for school districts regarding the grant, Frick added.

Over 80 school nutrition programs in the Georgia education department participated in the state’s pilot Local Food for Schools program, serving nearly 1 million students with healthy food options in the first year, according to recent data from the department.

What the loss of money means for GA schools, farmers

Nationally, an estimated $660 million in money from the Local Food for Schools program for 2025 will no longer be available to support local producers and assist schools in expanding fresh menu options, according to the School Nutrition Association, a national non-profit organization representing 50,000 school nutrition professionals across the country.

“With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat, Congress needs to invest in underfunded school meal programs rather than cut services critical to student achievement and health,” School Nutrition Association President Shannon Gleave said in a news release.

Gleave said the cuts would cause millions of children to lose access to free school meals at a time when working families are struggling with rising food costs.

Thirteen percent of Georgia’s population is food insecure, according to the Science for Georgia. This means that over 1 million Georgians do not have reliable access to a sufficient supply of affordable, nutritious food. That includes one in five children, according to Feeding America.

Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., of Georgia, serves as the top Democrat on the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies subcommittee. Bishop said the programs were beneficial in combating food insecurity, while also noting state Superintendent Richard Woods’ belief in the program’s ability to ensure that Georgia students don’t go hungry.

Bishop raised concerns about how the funding cuts could create budget constraints for school nutrition programs.

“It will put a dent in the school lunch programs because many school districts and school cafeterias have already put (those funds) in their budget, and losing that food is going to mean that they will come up short of what their school feeding plans have been,” Bishop said.

Bishop said the cuts could also financially affect underserved local farmers who sell the produce.

Georgia Department of Education officials reported that over 75% of Local Food for Schools purchases during the pilot year came from local Georgia farmers, with the remaining 25% sourced from regional producers within 400 miles of designated schools.

The money allowed school systems to purchase Georgia-grown produce and non-processed, or minimally processed, produce, including honey, grits, strawberries, cheese, eggs, shrimp and mustard greens.

“It’s really penny-wise and pound-foolish for them to cut that program because it hurts so many folks,” Bishop said. “The program does so much good for both the producers and the recipients of the food that it just doesn’t make sense.”

Bishop said the state education department’s food service workers will have to face the question of what’s next in terms of relying on other alternatives.

“They are very disappointed that they’re going to have that debt in their budgets, and they’re going to be struggling to try to make up for it,” Bishop said.

Bishop said lawmakers are working to block the cuts and advocate for restoring the funding through the appropriations process.

How much did GA school districts receive under the LFS program?

Georgia was awarded $7.1 million for the Local Food for Schools grant, according to USDA data.

This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM with the headline "$1B in federal cuts could put a ‘dent’ in Georgia’s school food offerings. What to know.."