As Republicans propose cuts to nutritional assistance programs and Donald Trump cancels funding for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farms, farmers fear losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, while parents worry about their ability to afford groceries for their children.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: U.S. food aid cuts threaten family budgets, and Virginia’s

By Dave Ress

• “As congressional Republicans eye $230 billion in cuts to the farm budget that funds food stamps, Tamika Spears of Richmond worries how she’s going to feed her three children if her $262-a-month Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit gets cut again — or goes away.”

• “State Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, is thinking about how or if the state can make up difference if Congress asks states to pick up some of the cost of a nearly 9-decade-old part of the social safety net, one that has been a path out of poverty for millions.”

• “‘It is difficult to feed the family, because everybody eats differently,’ said Spears, who relies on Medicaid because of a disability and struggles to pay rent, electricity and other bills.”

• “In the Richmond area, 37,555 city residents receive SNAP benefits, 37,061 in Henrico County, 31,112 in Chesterfield County and 6,070 in Hanover County.”

• “State legislators are also going to have to rethink who pays how much to cover public services in Virginia that rely on federal funds, she said. These range from SNAP benefits that some 828,000 Virginians rely upon, to Medicaid, which pays for health care for low-income Virginians and people with disabilities [...]”

• “‘Cutting these benefits will (mean) more children going to bed hungry, more seniors struggling to make ends meet, and more families forced to choose between food, rent or medicine,’ Delegate Bonita Anthony said.”

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Va. won’t get expected $21 million for local farm food to schools, food banks

By Anna Bryson and Em Holter

• “For Brick Goldman, 73, farming isn’t just his career.”

• “It's a way of life that has been passed down through six generations.”

• “But now, a recent round of federal cuts could threaten his livelihood, causing his 250-acre Charlotte County farm southwest of Richmond to lose more than $200,000 in revenue and preventing thousands of pounds of fresh produce from reaching those in need.”

• “The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month announced plans to cancel two pandemic-era programs that give schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending. Virginia would have received an estimated $21.2 million in the next round of grant funding, according to the USDA.”

• “‘It’s scary. It looks like we’ll lose all of that funding with them pulling the money and that’ll hurt us,’ Goldman said.”

• “For nearly five years, these federal grants have gone toward shrinking the food insecurity gap for schoolchildren and families across the state, including the city of Richmond [...]”

• “‘In the name of reducing wasteful spending, (President Donald) Trump and (Elon) Musk are taking food out of hungry kids’ mouths and money out of Virginia farmers’ pockets,’ Rep. Jennifer McClellan said.”

• “‘When you can't count on a financial commitment from an entity you've been able to count on forever, when you can't count on the policy of today matching the words of today or the words of tomorrow, when that volatility is there, businesses can't plan,’ Geyer said. ‘The plan was always for (the LFPA grants) to continue.’”

• “Lulu’s Local Food, an online farmers market that serves as the go-between for local farmers and consumers — including food pantries and local school systems — received about $1.5 million from an LFPA grant in 2022.”

• “Through the grant, Lulu’s has fed 500,000 people in need in south-central Virginia, serving more than 700,000 pounds of food from 137 local farmers [...]”

• “‘This is going to be devastating to the farmers as well as to the people who were getting food,’ said Molly Harris, the founder of Lulu’s. ‘Come mid-July, when you're in the middle of all the tomatoes and the cucumbers and the squash and fabulous produce coming in, it's all going to come to an end.’”