Local farmers feel impacts of federal funding freezes

The Department of Government Efficiency canceled Pennsylvania’s contract with the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program, which funds local farmers to supply food to food banks with fresh produce, last month. 

According to a March 25 press release from Gov. Josh Shapiro, the $13 million contract was supposed to fund local farmers for three more years. Since the contract has been canceled, farmers and nonprofits are losing funding across Pennsylvania, including in the Lehigh Valley. 

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the purpose of the Local Food Purchasing Assistance agreement is to strengthen agricultural supply chains and create a more reliable local produce network while providing food to underserved communities. 

Second Harvest Food Bank, which is located in Nazareth and provides food to those in need across six counties in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania, is one of many food banks being impacted by the canceling of the agreement. 

According to a Second Harvest Food Bank report shared with The Brown and White, the agreement has led to $1.8 million invested into the Lehigh Valley food economy over the last two years, and provided 1.7 million meals to those in need.

Sarah Wassel, associate executive director of the food bank, said the termination of the contract will begin to have an impact on Second Harvest in August 2025, as the food bank will have to start relying more on private donors for funding.

She said the staff is currently determining how to provide the same amount of food while receiving funding through other avenues. 

She also said the food bank is currently applying for grants to replace the money it once had, but it has yet to hear back as of April 7.  

Wassel said the food bank may also cut its funding toward salaries and equipment to attempt to restore the amount of money that is usually allocated toward food purchases.

“We’ve gotten to the point that we’re trying to reprioritize our spending to better assist our community,” Wassel said.

She said the goal of Second Harvest is to continue serving the same number of people, but she acknowledged it might be difficult to maintain the variety or quantity of food previously served. 

Nicole Folino, community services manager at Second Harvest, said she believes the funding cuts will impact the community as a whole — both producers and consumers.

She said the funding through the program was used for local food purchasing to buy food directly from regional farmers. She compared the lack of funding to someone no longer being able to purchase a harvest from a gardener they had promised to buy from.

Twin Maple Farms in Northampton County provides food to local food banks. It is one of Pennsylvania’s farms that could be impacted by the termination of the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program. (Kendall Gavin/B&W Staff)

“You have people that were saying, ‘I’m going to purchase from your local garden,’ and now those people are saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t have the money, and you’re going to be stuck with all that food,’” Folino said. 

Folino said those who were banking and planning ahead for future harvests, intending to use the money allocated under the contract, are going to struggle when the cuts decrease their funding. 

“Farms who were banking and doing crop planning, based on thinking we were going to have that money, are really the subject that’s going to suffer, as well as people receiving the food,” Folino said.

Wassel said she believes the local economy will experience a negative change due to the cut in funding, and the removal of the contract will impact all the small businesses in the Lehigh Valley. 

She also said she isn’t happy about the termination of the contract, because it’s hindering Second Harvest from meeting its goals and hurting the community at large.

“It’s very sad, because our mission is to try to provide,” she said. “You’re purchasing food with money from the community, and it’s going to the community.” 

Twin Maple Farms, a fourth-generation farm located in Northampton County, provides food to local nonprofits and food banks, including Second Harvest Food Bank.

Twin Maple Farms, located at 7486 School Rd. in Bath, sells fresh vegetables and produce. The family-run, 250-acre farm has been operating since 1939. (Kendall Gavin/B&W Staff)

Travis Hahn, co-owner of Twin Maple Farms, said he’s unsure what will happen with the contract being canceled, but he knows his farm will be affected.

Hahn said at this point, it’s hard to determine how things will change in the future, and he could see the farm doing less business with Second Harvest and providing less local produce to food banks if they don’t have federal funding. 

He also said the contract being terminated means his farm will need to find a new place to sell its produce.

According to the press release from Shapiro, his administration is appealing the termination of the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program. 

Russell Redding, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, has since challenged the decision to end the contract, citing the more than 25.9 million pounds of food that have been provided to more than 5 million Pennsylvanians through the program as reasoning to reinstate the agreement. 

Twin Maple Farms is a fourth-generational farm in Northampton County that provides food to Second Harvest Food Bank. The farm may be unable to provide the same amount of food following the cancellation of federal programs. (Kendall Gavin/B&W Staff)

Even though it’s clear to Hahn there will be a change in the future as a result of the contract ending, he said he’s hoping for new legislation in the Lehigh Valley to help with new funding. 

He also said he’s hopeful the program will be reinstated on the Pennsylvania Farm Bill, an investment in state farmers and agriculture under the Commonwealth. 

“We’re hopeful to get our elected officials on board to refund the program for 2025 and hopefully make it permanent for the Farm Bill,” Hahn said. “I’m forever an optimist. We’ll see how things shake out.”