Field to Family ‘looking at a different reality’ after USDA funding cuts

Local food nonprofit Field to Family says the sudden loss of funding from the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Foods for Schools (LFS) programs has left them scrambling to adjust. “We are now looking at a new reality for Field to Family,” said executive director Michelle Kenyon, at the Johnson County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Wednesday morning. “In the past three years, we've scaled up our food hub operations to meet the demand, and without the committed funds from the USDA, we are looking at a much different reality. While we have commitments without grant funds from about half of our partner schools, we have increased commitments to purchase from small businesses,” adding that the prior amount committed from the USDA cannot be currently matched. Most of the organization’s expenses are fixed, encompassing staff, space distribution, vehicles and other infrastructure, “but even with reducing non-fixed expenses, we will need to fill a rather substantial gap,” Ms. Kenyon said. During Field to Family’s update to the board, Ms. Kenyon and her team outlined the gains made throughout the year. During 2024, the food hub fulfilled 2,000 orders and made deliveries to both urban and rural areas. Additionally:

• Local food was delivered to 44 schools and 25 food access agencies.
• Bettendorf Community Schools sourced 1,000 pounds of global food from 18 producers in six months.
• Meskwaki Nation utilized LFPA funding, and became a valued customer-partner.
• Iowa Farm to Early Childcare Teacher boxes were sent to 12 daycare sites.
• $538,343 was paid to local food producers, an increase of $48,000 compared to 2023.
• 46 new producer partners were added.
• The Local Food Exploration Box launched to boost understanding of nutrition and culturally relevant food.
• The nonprofit delivered more than 150 days of the year across 23 counties, with some deliveries involving more than 200 boxes.
• Field to Family began working with 28 new school districts and 16 new producers.

Field to Family, with the encouragement from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, began scaling up operations last year after the next round of funding for the LFS and LFPA programs was announced. “We were asked to plan to provide for even more local food to meet that demand and funding availability of the program, and prepare we did,” Ms. Kenyon said, adding that the organization increased its infrastructure in response. Calling the USDA’s decision to halt funding “disrespectful and irresponsible,” Ms. Kenyon said schools and local food producers will suffer as a result. “It has left farmers and food hubs holding the bag, while food pantries and schools are left behind again, and at a time when their budgets are even more constrained,” Ms. Kenyon said, adding that while there's a call for these programs to be added to a future farm bill, “we can't necessarily wait to find out.” Board chair Jon Green thanked the organization for its work, expressing frustration with the federal decision to cut program funding, while maintaining optimism in Field to Family’s ability to pull through. “It's not going to be pleasant. We're not going to be able to accomplish as much as we'd like to, but we will get through this,” he said. Field to Family will be hosting an open house April 24 from 4-6 p.m. for its spring market kickoff, located at 1049 US Highway 6, Iowa City.