The abrupt elimination of two national food procurement programs by the Trump administration’s DOGE unit is hitting close to home as local farmers and the food-needy communities the programs serve cope with the uncertainties.
In February, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) were eliminated. Both administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), these programs provide more than $1 billion to recipients nationally, with approximately $660 million in LFS funding directed to schools and daycare centers for the purchase of local goods. The LFPA program is used by agencies to connect local goods and produce to those who can’t afford them.
U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia would like the programs reinstated, but at the local food pantry and area food bank, uncertainty looms.
“The Rappahannock Food Pantry receives donations from both the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and the Mid-Atlantic Food Resilience and Access Coalition,” Rappahannock Food Pantry, Inc. President Penny Kardis said. “The last two years we received $2,500 grants each year from them to purchase Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) [memberships] from local farmers and producers here in Rappahannock. I’m not sure where that is headed this year.”
Food Pantry president Penny Kardis, last June, during a punch list walkthrough during the final stages of construction at the new Food Pantry at Rush River Commons. (Photo/Penny Kardis)
The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank receives USDA food from multiple initiatives, including LFPA and other sources, food bank communications and public relations manager Les Sinclair said.
“The food bank is losing less than 500,000 pounds of USDA food in total — under 10% of our total supply — through September 2025 at which point we should have a new Farm Bill,” he said.
Sinclair said the new Farm Bill is something the food bank is watching closely and advocating for. The bill was introduced in 2018 and has been extended twice with a current expiration date of September. The bill governs an array of food and agricultural programs.
“The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is committed to working with USDA, Congress and state leaders to ensure families can access nutritious food when they need it while also supporting the farmers who work tirelessly to feed us all,” Sinclair said.
Just in case, he said the food bank’s management team is adding a contingency line in the organization’s FY26 budget for USDA mitigation should funding be slashed.
With the elimination of the programs, it’s estimated that Virginia will lose out on more than $21 million. According to a list obtained from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), there are 17 grants among 13 sub-grantees under the LFPA or LFPA Plus program in Virginia with 147 farms and producers. A few of the farms are located in neighboring states, but they supply goods under the Virginia programs.
F.T. Valley Farm in Sperryville is an LFPA producer with 4P Foods, a food hub based out of Warrenton that connects people in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia with goods from its partner farmers. Farm owners Algis and Kathy Penkiunas work to be good neighbors in Rappahannock County, regularly donating beef and apples to local food pantries. Some of the organizations the farm partners with include the Mid-Atlantic Food Resilience and Access Coalition, Fauquier FISH and the Rappahannock Food Pantry.
Meredith Gilmore, F.T. Valley’s market manager and director of sales and distribution, said the USDA cuts are unfortunate not just for them but for all small farms, all dependent on what could be a suddenly reduced market.
“These programs offer so much support to small and mid-sized farms in connecting with local and regional markets,” Gilmore said. “Without [them], finding alternative buyers may become challenging. Our orchard participates heavily in food access initiatives, as does 4P, and the loss of funding could reduce our ability to provide fruit to underserved communities on a regular basis.”
The programs, Gilmore said, are vital to agricultural systems.\
“[They] help our small farms compete in our local markets while guaranteeing fair pricing and ensuring fresh local produce for food-insecure communities throughout the commonwealth,” she said.
F.T. Valley Farm owner Kathy Penkiunas, left, and market manager/director of sales and distribution Meredith Gilmore donate goods from the farm to Fauquier Fish, a nonprofit organization in Warrenton. (Photo/Courtesy)
Much remains to be seen as to how exactly F.T. Valley will be affected as its season hasn’t started yet. However, Gilmore said she has no doubt that things will unfold once the harvest is started.
“I am hopeful that our local agricultural communities will come together and our consumers will recognize that it is now more important than ever to support Virginia farms,” she said. “Without these grants, we are going to need to adjust some marketing strategies, seek out new buyers and possibly explore new funding sources.”
In a letter sent late last month to Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Warner and Kaine expressed their concerns over the decision to cancel the programs.
“With USDA’s decision to cancel these funds, Virginia farmers are deprived of a crucial market for this season and low-income communities face even greater barriers to access fresh, healthy foods,” the senators wrote.
