Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a two-part series.
KENNETT SQUARE — The spring brought shockwaves at home, around the region and across America as the U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled $1 billion in food assistance.
The USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Feeding America, 1 in 8 children face hunger.
In this region, the USDA canceled a $250,000 food order to Chester County Food Bank, and an estimated $525,000 food order to Philabundance effective April 1. They were quarterly orders.
Loree Jones Brown is the chief executive officer of Philabundance, a hunger relief agency serving nine counties including Camden, Salem, Burlington and Gloucester counties in New Jersey and Delaware, Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Berks counties in Pennsylvania.
“We work with between 300 and 350 pantries,” Brown said.
Community partners that run these food pantries serve churches, mosques, synagogues on standalone community centers and senior centers.
“We provide food to them free of charge and ready for them. They get donations on their own, have their own food drives,” Brown said. “And some work with other food banks.”
Founded in 1984, Philabundance distributes about 50 million pounds of food in a year.
“The federal government has been providing 15% of that until kind of now,” Brown said.
Also, Philabundance receives 5% from Pennsylvania. It does not get funding from New Jersey, she said.
Brown said Philabundance has relied on private donors a lot for food funding, and a fair amount comes from retail rescue. That means if there’s excess food at grocery stores that is safe and healthy, it can be donated to the food bank rather than wasted.
USDA is the main national entity at the federal level that supports current security for food banks to feed the hungry, she said. The department manages the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which is funded by Congress via the Farm Bill.
Brown said the food order for April through June was unexpectedly canceled. That represents 250,000 pounds of food.
The $1 billion food purchases canceled by the USDA were part of two programs established by the COVID crisis, including the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program and Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA).
Also, in the wake of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s appeal of USDA’s decision to cancel $13 million in funding to Pennsylvania under the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program, Lt. Governor Austin Davis and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding led a roundtable at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank this spring.
“Investing in Pennsylvania farmers and helping them do what they do best — feed people — is an investment in our future,” Davis said.
“We did pull some funds back,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox News. “Just two weeks ago we released another community fund food bank program funding of $280 million.”
She said, “Never, not once will a child go hungry in this country under any sort of USDA program with President Trump in control and in power.”
Following USDA’s food cut to Philabundance this quarter Brown said Rollins may come up with a similar or some other innovative program that supports the farmers and neighbors in need.
Brown said she was hopeful.
Still, “we worry about being able to fill shelves for our neighbors. So we definitely are concerned about the state of hunger,” she said.
“We saw in 2022 food insecurity rise at the highest rate since the Great Depression,” Brown noted.
The numbers continued to rise in 2023, and especially now with the persistent spikes in the cost of living, and even the price of eggs.
Poor nutrition, studies show, impacts children’s developing brains and in adolescence it can lead to poor behavior in school and even mental health challenges. Brown said last year 90% of the food it provided had nutritious value.
Everyone can make a difference.
“Chances are in your neighborhood or your church, your mosque, your synagogue, there’s probably a pantry associated with it,” Brown said. People can volunteer as well as make donations.
She said on balance people care about their neighbors: “They want to help.”
Brown said the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in his Nobel Prize address, said that great nations are compassionate nations, that they develop underdeveloped schools, they school the unschooled and beat the undefeated.
“And I really believe that it’s a mandate,” Brown said. “It’s our responsibility to support our neighbors.”
“Ensuring that all residents have access to healthy food is a priority for Delaware County,” said Delaware County Council member Elaine Paul Schaefer. “We are committed to working with our state and federal partners to address these funding challenges. By strengthening our partnerships with local organizations and exploring additional support avenues, we aim to safeguard the well-being of our community members facing food insecurity.”
Chester County, especially the Department of Human Services, played a critical role in establishing the Chester County Food Bank in 2009 as an independent organization, acting as an umbrella for the county’s multiple food pantries, such as the West Chester Food Bank and Downingtown’s The Lord’s Pantry.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Andrea Youndt, chief executive officer at Chester County Food Bank. “The real critical piece is making sure that a Farm Bill gets passed. That would be the most important thing to our communities across the country and to anyone who is in food banking, but anyone who eats. The Farm Bill is the really critical piece to all of this.”
Youndt said it is key that Congress passes a new Farm Bill in September.
In terms of the recent cuts, “we had approximately $145,000 allocated through the LFPA funding and again, we’re hopeful that that gets wrapped up into the Farm Bill.”
Chester County Food Bank
Despite the USDA cuts, Chester County Food Bank plans to meet the needs of the community.
“We’re committed and we don’t see any challenge currently,” Youndt said. “We are working to make sure that we can continue to supply food at the current levels to all of our partners across the county. We have some contingencies that we have in place for circumstances like this.”
She commended the people in Chester County for responding to the cuts with so much support.
“The community has stepped up,” Youndt said. “We will continue to be the leading relief organization for the county.”
Companies can run food drives, and volunteers are welcome.
“Locally our community comes together in times of challenge and I have great hope because we live in a good county of people who care,” she said. “As long as we all care for each other, we can weather the storm.
In 2024, Chester County Food Bank distributed 4.6 million pounds of food, including partners in Phoenixville, West Chester and Kennett Square.
Nicholas Imbesi, Chester County Food Bank community relations director, said the organization has more than 80 partners through the county and delivers food to their pantries and food cupboards.
Food is going to continue to flow to our partners, Imbesi said.
“We’re very fortunate to have a community in Chester County that wants to wrap its arms around us. We’re very fortunate when the community heard that the USDA pulled this food order from us,” Imbesi said.
“We’re going to have to buy more food and we’re going to do that. But there’s no question in our minds that we’re going to fill this gap and we’re going to continue to complete our mission in Chester County,” he said.
“We’re going to continue serving our community partners at current levels. There’s not going to be any disruption to our community partners,” Imbesi said.
“We’ll get through this,” he added.
“People are living paycheck to paycheck, and that continues to grow in Chester County. A lot of it just has to do because of the cost-of-living prices we’re seeing,” he said.
“Pennsylvania had $6.3 million in orders canceled by the USDA. The orders included canned and frozen chicken, turkey, pork, cheese, dried fruits, eggs, and milk — healthy and nutritious foods that children, seniors and adults facing hunger rely on to thrive,” said Julie Bancroft, chief executive officer of Feeding Pennsylvania.
She said more than 1.5 million people struggle with food insecurity in Pennsylvania. “Numbers continue to trend due to factors such as higher food prices. We anticipate this will only continue. Pennsylvania saw a 25% increase from 2021-2022.”
“Reauthorizing a strong Farm Bill is one of the most immediate solutions to protect federal nutrition programs,” Bancroft said.
And again, that takes an act of Congress.
‘Truly remarkable’
“These federal cuts couldn’t come at a worse time, as many families are struggling more than ever to put food on the table with a sinking stock market, out of control and indiscriminate tariffs, rising costs and an economy destabilized by the White House,” said state Sen. John Kane, D-9, of Birmingham, who represents portions of Delaware and Chester counties.
“I encourage everyone to get involved with our local nonprofits. Whether through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or simply reaching out to ask what they need. Every bit of support matters. We must all step up to help these organizations continue their vital work,” Kane said.
Kane said Shapiro has proposed increased investments in the State Food Purchase program by $8 million for a total spend of nearly $35 million. I am a strong supporter of this program because it helps get fresh food to Pennsylvanians that need it the most, and it is even more needed right now.
“The dedication of our charitable organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania is truly remarkable. Their unwavering commitment to serving our communities, especially during these challenging times, demonstrates the very best of our region,” Kane said. “The mark of a strong community isn’t measured by how many wealthy folks are in it — it’s measured by how well we look after those who need help the most. And we’re going to make sure Chester County continues to show up for our neighbors who need help, regardless of the narratives coming out of Washington.”
Meanwhile in Washington, the Secretary of Agriculture told Fox News that Democrat narratives, including that children will suffer because of these food order cuts, were untrue, calling it “fake news.”
Still, “we cannot let federal dysfunction undermine the critical work happening in our communities. I remain committed to supporting our nonprofits in every way possible at the state level,” Kane said.
Rep. Christina Sappey, D-158th of East Marlborough concurred.
“The loss of funding for our food banks is truly hard to fathom, particularly as they have continued to see a rise in families needing assistance in recent years. Our food pantries report that those seeking food assistance are often dual-income households with children that are falling further and further behind. It’s critical to support these families. When they fall behind, we all do,” Sappey said.
“I know Chester County residents to be highly engaged, so I know they find these cuts unconscionable and I know they will do what they can to help those in need, as they so often do,” she said.
“It shows a fundamental lack of empathy for others,” said state Sen. Carolyn Comitta, D-19, of West Chester. “The Trump administration doesn’t care about our food banks or doesn’t know how food banks operate or both.”
She said people and families who rely on food banks and cupboards are already facing instability and hardship. “To needlessly add more stress and uncertainty to their lives is wrong,” the senator said.
“Remember, in addition to harming children, senior citizens, and others who rely on food banks, these cuts negatively impact local farms and farmers who supply our food banks with fresh produce,” Comitta said.”
She continued, “Our government can operate with efficiency and empathy. This is neither.”
Comitta said she continues to support investments to fight hunger and prevent food insecurity, like the Hunger Free Campuses Initiative, the Universal Free Breakfast in schools, and increases of $4 million each for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System and to the State Food Purchase Program.
“We can donate. We can protest and speak out. But people need to vote. The Pennsylvania Primary Election is May 20. If you are not registered, you have until May 5 to do so. The General Election is Nov. 4,” Comitta said.
Three State Supreme Court Justices up for retention and elections for Commonwealth Court, Superior Court, and other local and judicial races across the Commonwealth.
“We can elect judges and officials who stand for our values and stand up for important institutions like libraries, social service agencies, public schools, healthcare, and food banks,” the Democrat senator said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
“I’m disheartened to see the slashing of federal assistance without regard to the impact it’s having on people’s lives,” said Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick. “We have members of our community that count on our support for the basic necessities. Federal funding for the basics, like food, should not be considered waste or fraud. It is an essential service to help the most vulnerable members of our community.”
The mayor said the charitable good work of “endless” volunteers inspires. “Our volunteers and social organizations are passionate about making sure our community, as a whole, thrives,” he said.
“We need to come together, as we always do to make sure no one is left behind,” the mayor added.
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