Vera-Marie Shaw

Mill Hall

Recently (03/31/25) The Express printed a story about federal programs that impact local farmers and the Central PA Food Bank. According to the report, the USDA has terminated two programs that could have significant impact on members in our local community. These are the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreements Program (LFPA) which is a partnership between local farmers and food banks to provide fresh, nutritious food to local people who are food insecure, and The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) which provides money for schools and childcare centers to purchase food from local farmers.

LFS funds provide nutritious meals for school breakfast and lunch programs in many school districts throughout the state. Research from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service states that on average, school lunches are 15% more nutritious than lunches from home or other places. Students who ate school lunches were more likely to consume milk, fruits and vegetables and were less likely to consume desserts, snacks and non-milk beverages compared to those who consumed lunches from home or other places (Food and Nutrition Service 2021 FSN-841). The LFS program has the potential to significantly improve the nutrition of our school-age children by purchasing food directly from local farms.

U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson of Howard represents House District PA-15 and is the Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. Our district is a rural, farming district, yet 12.3% of our friends and neighbors count on food banks and school/childcare nutrition programs. These programs support our families, our neighbors and 189 farms in Pennsylvania that have already planned on selling their local produce, milk, cheese and meat to 40 food banks in the state.

Governor Shapiro is working on the state level to appeal the termination of these important federal programs, but our representatives in Washington need to work for Pennsylvania’s working families.

Contact Representative Thompson and Senators Fetterman and McCormick and ask them to use their influence to encourage the USDA to reinstate these programs and continue to support Pennsylvania farmers and our most vulnerable friends and neighbors. Find and contact your elected officials at www.usa.gov/elected-officials/