USDA cuts $8 million in funding for Nevada school and food bank programs

The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Trump administration has terminated over $8 million in funding for two critical programs that support local food purchases for schools and food banks in the state.

The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) have been recently cut, impacting Nevada's ability to provide fresh produce to schools and food-insecure populations.

The NDA was set to receive $4,074,248 for the LFS program, which was intended as a pass-through grant to the 63 school food authorities (SFAs) operating the National School Lunch Program across Nevada. Additionally, the LFPA program was to receive $3,922,801 to continue the Home Feeds Nevada (HFN) initiative, which purchases food from local producers for distribution through the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and Three Square Food Bank.

The USDA's decision to terminate these programs follows a freeze on funds in January, part of a broader pause in federal funding by the Trump administration. This move reverses a previous announcement in December that pledged a $1.13 billion investment to continue the programs into 2025.

The funding cuts have significantly impacted Nevada's budget for the Home Feeds Nevada program, which has been instrumental in allowing food banks and schools to purchase fresh produce from local farms and ranches. Since 2023, the programs have purchased more than $6 million in agricultural goods from at least 265 small-scale Nevada farms and ranches, benefiting more than half of the state's school districts.

The NDA, which administers the programs, has approximately $139,000 in remaining award funding, expected to be depleted by June 30, 2025.

A bill in the Nevada Legislature heard last week would make an appropriation of $800,000 to the Home Feeds Nevada Program, though no future hearings have been scheduled for Senate Bill 233.

The Home Feeds Nevada program, initially created under Senate Bill 370 in the 2021 legislative session, facilitates the purchase of fresh food by the NDA from local producers for distribution at food banks throughout the state. Through the federal grants created in LFPA and LFS, state departments of agriculture purchased fresh food from local producers and then distributed it to food banks or passed the funding through to school food authorities to buy and serve locally grown food for school lunches.