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In 2020 and 2021, the COVID pandemic exposed weaknesses in the United States鈥� supply chain for key items in American households.

The Biden administration spent millions of dollars through the U.S. Department of Agriculture on new programs that helped farmers sell their produce to local schools, create produce boxes for households and provide more direct food access to their communities.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs provided incentives for schools and community organizations to buy food from local farmers. They allowed states to create contracts with farmers so schools could purchase their foods and gave farmers the promise of a guaranteed sale when harvest time arrived.

Now, with rocky trade partnerships and tariffs looming, President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration has for the programs, leaving farmers across the country heading into their growing season unsure who will buy their produce.

鈥淲e really figured out how to get local farm product into community spaces under LFS and LFPA,鈥� said Thomas Smith, the chief business officer at the Kansas City Food Hub, a cooperative of farmers near the Kansas City area. 鈥淲e were making our whole organization around meeting those new needs, because we believe in the government鈥檚 promise that they believe in local food.鈥�

The Trump administration canceled about $660 million in funding for the programs that was to be paid out over the next few years. Through the programs so far, USDA has paid out more than to states and other recipients.

KC Food Hub took on the challenge of helping farmers, school districts and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education work together to streamline the processes under the Biden-era programs. It was almost an instant success.

In 2024, the cooperative brokered more than $500,000 in sales for small farmers in the Kansas City region 鈥� more than the group had seen in its first five years of operation.

KC Food Hub hoped that the new partnerships would continue putting money back into farmers鈥� pockets and was aiming for over $1 million in sales for the farmers they represent. Now, they鈥檙e huddling with school districts across Kansas and Missouri to try and keep some of the contracts alive in the absence of the federal money.

How purchasing agreements relieve stress for small farmers

The local food programs were an extra pillar of support for small farmers across the country.

USDA show that since 1980, the number of farms across the U.S. has decreased from about 2.5 million to 1.88 million in 2024. Part of that struggle, Smith said, is like many small-business owners, farmers are forced to take on many different roles.

鈥淲hat they really want to be doing is farming, knowing their soil, knowing their land,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淏ut because there is no distributor like the Food Hub in most communities, they have to be business people, too. They have to be in the board meetings, meetings with school administrators. And that just puts so much stress onto the food system.鈥�

Over the years, as small farms have dwindled and larger operations have consolidated agricultural production in the United States, the middle market and distributors like the Food Hub have phased out.

When it comes to large-scale distributors, there are plenty of places a farmer could turn to sell their products. But the return for that farmer when selling to a large distributor is much lower.

鈥淵ou get pennies on the dollar,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淣o respect to your work, no respect for your worth.鈥�

There are other USDA programs that dedicate money to states through their nutrition assistance programs and set aside funds for seniors and low-income families to from local farmers.

Studies show ripple effects through local economies when higher quantities of local food are purchased. A 2010 found that for every dollar spent on local food products, there is between 32 cents and 90 cents in additional local economic activity.

For Mike Pearl, a legacy farmer in Parkville, the programs pushed him to expand faster than he鈥檇 planned. Now, without the guarantee of those contracts, he鈥檚 scaling back his production plan for the year.

鈥淚f you think about it, it was an early game changer,鈥� Pearl said. 鈥淲e were able to, for the first

time 鈥� grow on a contracted basis for a fair price for the farmer, in a way that we never would have been able to do before.鈥�

That encouraged Pearl to increase production and begin making upgrades before he felt completely ready to do so, he told The Beacon. New equipment, growing more produce and hiring more staff were all side effects of the local food purchasing agreements.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure that a lot of vegetable farmers were actually ready for it,鈥� Pearl said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 prepared for it. But we made some changes to grow a bit more and do as much as we can on a short runway. We were set up for a perfect storm.鈥�

Anything extra Pearl produces will be donated, as his farm is one of the largest donors of food in the Kansas City area. But other farmers are left with questions about what will happen with their crops 鈥� and their revenue.

It raises a question of trust that Maile Auterson has encountered throughout her life as a fourth-generation farmer in the Ozarks and the founder of Springfield Community Gardens, which facilitates local produce boxes and the LFS programs in the Springfield, Joplin and Rolla areas.

鈥淲e promised the farmers,鈥� Auterson said. 鈥淭he biggest insult to us is that we cannot follow through on the promises we made to the farmers that we had made with that money.鈥�

The area her group serves was set to get $3 million in federal funds over the next three years. While Auterson is trying to fulfill some of those contracts, the trust that small farmers were building with the government through the program has been severed, she said.

鈥淲e talked the farmers into participating and scaling up specifically for this program,鈥� Auterson said. 鈥淭hen when we can鈥檛 follow through, the government has done what they were afraid the government would do, which would be to not look out for the small farmer. It鈥檚 a terrible moral injury to all of us.鈥�

What鈥檚 next for small farmers and local food purchasers?

Smith said the Food Hub is in talks with its participating school districts 鈥� including Lee鈥檚 Summit, Blue Springs and Shawnee Mission 鈥� to continue their purchasing agreements even without the federal funds.

So far, even with the funding cancellation, 95% of 2024鈥檚 produce sales are set to be maintained through this year, Smith said.

鈥淎s small farmers, they can鈥檛 meet the streamlined industrial agriculture price points, but we can come close,鈥� said Katie Nixon, a farmer and the co-director of New Growth Food Systems, which is affiliated with the West Central Missouri Community Action Agency.

鈥淥ur quality is usually a lot higher,鈥� Nixon said. 鈥淟ettuce, for example, will last three weeks in the cooler, whereas lettuce coming from greenhouses in God knows where will last a week before they turn to mush.鈥�

The Blue Springs School District saw a 40% increase in the use of its cafeteria salad bars after switching to local produce, Smith said. And school districts often find less waste and more savings, despite the slightly higher price when purchasing the produce, Nixon said.

Research shows that farm-to-school programs, like sourcing local produce and teaching kids about farming, resulted in students choosing healthier options in the cafeteria and eating more fruits and vegetables. Schools also saw an average 9% increase in students eating their meals from the school cafeteria when they participated in farm-to-school programming.

During Trump鈥檚 most recent Cabinet meeting at the White House, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenendy Jr. said the administration is planning a massive overhaul of the federal school meals program.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be simple, it鈥檚 going to be user friendly. It is going to stress the simplicity of local foods, of whole foods and of healthy foods,鈥� Kennedy . 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make it easy for everyone to read and understand.鈥�

Auterson and Nixon feel that the cancellation of the program is retribution for those who benefited from policies and funds initiated during the Biden administration.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e hurting everyone,鈥� Auterson said. 鈥淓veryone is suffering from them being retributional.鈥�

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