Alabama farmers will no longer receive a planned $16.1 million in grant funding this year for two federal programs that provide fresh, locally grown products in school cafeterias and food banks.
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries found out March 7 the U.S. Department of Agriculture was ending the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. Since 2022 when the programs began, about $14. 5 million in grants have been distributed to about 60 Alabama farmers in an effort to bolster local food chain supplies.
About 80 farmers had expected to receive some of this year’s $16.1 million funding, most of it for the school program, Don Wambles, the state’s director of agriculture promotions, told Alabama Daily News on Tuesday.
“The contracts to Alabama farmers for the LFPA25 and LFSCC25 were not fully executed prior to the cooperative agreement termination by USDA-AMS this past Friday,” Wambles said in a written statement.
Nationwide, the cuts are more than $1 billion and were first reported by Politico.
Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Agriculture Secretary, on Tuesday (March 11) told Fox News the relatively new school program “was nonessential” and “an effort by the left to spend taxpayer dollars that were not necessary.”
When the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program was announced, it was explained that the state department of agriculture would purchase food directly from farmers. In addition, the agency would work with the Alabama State Department of Education to coordinate the distribution of the items to schools.
‘First priority’
“Our first priority is to purchase produce from a variety of farmers and serve these fresh, local foods to Alabama school children,” Rick Pate, the commissioner of agriculture, said three years ago. “We will then target almost 60 school systems in Alabama who have a 50% or higher of their students who qualify for free and reduced meals.”
The agreement was originally part of the USDA’s Build Back Better framework, funded with American Rescue Plan Act money.
Separately, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program uses grants to get locally grown products to food banks and other organizations that reach underserved communities.
News of the cuts coincided this week with members of the Alabama School Nutrition Association visiting Capitol Hill to advocate for their programs.
Cacyce Davis is the association’s acting president and child nutrition director for Elmore County Schools.
“(The Local Food for Schools) would have been payment for food to farmers, and food that would have been sent to our schools and provided directly to our students,” Davis told Alabama Daily News on Tuesday. “And what better way to make sure that Alabama-grown produce gets to the children of our state, but to serve it through our schools.”
She said a few years ago, Elmore County Schools served no local produce.
“We’ve served over a million servings this school year,” she said.
She said schools are a consistent market for local farmers.
She also said state leaders are tremendous supporters of locally sourced food in schools, but the federal funding is significant.
“The loss of these grant funds is a negative for the state of Alabama,” she said.
The state ag department in its 2026 funding request has asked for a $50,000 increase for its Farm to School Program, which has been bolstered by the federal money.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mary Sell and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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