Gov. Newsom Appeals USDA Slashing $47 Million-A-Year Food Assistance Program

Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Social Services appealed a United States Department of Agriculture decision to abruptly end the $47 million a year Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program over the weekend.

According to the USDA, the LFPA was first authorized under former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan in 2022. A COVID recovery program, the LFPA sent out around $400 million a year to “make food more affordable for more Americans and help stabilize agricultural supply chains”.  The California Department of Social Services, getting over $40 million a year, used the LFPA funding to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food from producers within the state to food banks and schools.

In the next few years, the state used more than $88.5 million of LFPA funding for a local farm to food insecure area system. Essentially, it paid local farmers to grow food for foodbanks and schools. In 2025, the Department of Social Services was expecting to receive $47 million in LFPA funding. As the economy stabilized following the pandemic, the need for such programs began to shrink. At the same time, the incoming Trump Administration began looking at cuts within the USDA, with the LFPA being flagged as not critical. This led to early March when the USDA announced that it would be slashing $1 billion in funding for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement and LFPA programs for 2025.

Many states subsequently worried about the added stress on food bank programs, especially in regards to fresh food availability. However, the USDA maintained that the cuts were a way to “return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.”

USDA cuts

Facing a sudden cancellation of LFPA programs statewide, both Governor Newsom and the Department of Social Services appealed the funding cuts over the weekend.

“California’s agriculture sector – which produces nearly half the country’s fruits and vegetables – relies on the support of the Department of Agriculture to ensure that they can get fresh, healthy foods onto families’ tables,” said Newsom over the weekend. “The irrational and malicious slashing of funds will not only hurt our farmers, but also the families who need food banks and school meals to stay healthy and thrive. I implore the USDA to immediately reverse this decision.”

“Farmers, families, and schoolchildren rely on the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program to nourish our communities and strengthen our local food systems. Through California Farm to School, we’ve seen firsthand how these initiatives provide fresh, nutritious meals to families while supporting local growers,” stated First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. “Without this funding, families facing food insecurity will have fewer options, children will miss out on the meals they rely on, and farmers who have built their livelihoods around feeding our communities will face devastating losses. We urge the USDA to reconsider this decision and continue working with us to ensure a stronger, more resilient food system for all.”

“It’s a huge loss,” added California Association of Food Banks government relations Director Becky Silva. “It’s a really daunting time for food banks. If you ask food banks in California, they’re sharing some of the highest demand they’ve ever seen. The Community Action Partnership of Kern County are seeing 150% increase in the lines at their food distribution centers.”

Despite the appeals, the USDA have said that the cuts will remain in place. The cuts to the USDA, made in conjunction with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are set to streamline USDA operations. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has also hinted at further cuts in the future, with California farmers under the LFPA program now likely to return to pre-COVID setups.

“We are returning the Department of Agriculture to its core mission of supporting farmers and ranchers,” said Rollins of the cuts. “I am proud to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to streamline inefficiencies across the Department. At the same time, I understand that this review process has caused concern among some of your farmers who participate in longstanding USDA farm programs. In many instances, they had no way of knowing whether these programs were funded through the farm bill or through IRA funds. We are working to review these programs as quickly as possible.”