Fw: [NFSN Partners] Action Alert! USDA Terminates $660M Program for Local Food in Schools and Child Care

Hi all,

I wanted to share this information openly and expeditiously.  Please see information below from National Farm to School Network. 

May Tsupros  (they/them)

Director, Farm to Institution Programs 

Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems 

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Natural Resources Building, Room 312A

480 Wilson Rd., East Lansing MI

Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg–Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. Read here by land acknowledgements are not enough. 

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From: Karen Spangler <karen@farmtoschool.org>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2025 4:31 PM
To: partners@farmtoschool.org <partners@farmtoschool.org>
Subject: [NFSN Partners] Action Alert! USDA Terminates $660M Program for Local Food in Schools and Child Care

 

Dear NFSN Partners,

It is with a heavy heart that I must share that USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has officially terminated the second round of the Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) program, effective May 6. This program was set to provide $660 million to states over the next three years, ensuring schools and child care sites could purchase fresh, local food from American farmers and ranchers. This decision is a devastating loss for local food producers, schools, child care providers, and families nationwide.

Right now we need every voice to speak out on the impact of this decision. Here's how you can help:

1. Contact Your Elected and Local Officials: 

• Visit NFSN's Action Alert here to easily contact your federal legislators (including talking points to easily craft your message!)

• Raise your concerns to state officials, particularly your state Departments of Agriculture and Agriculture Commissioners, to urge them to fight for these programs. Not sure who to contact? Reach out to the NFSN Policy Team for help (Karen@farmtoschool.org).

2. Share Your Story:
   Use our Impact Form to let us know how this will affect your community. If you can speak on record to the press about these impacts, we are eager to connect with you as well. 

3. Spread the Word: The effects of this program cut will be felt by farmers and ranchers, food hubs and distributors, schools and child care providers, and families. We want to help amplify stories, particularly from producers, that can illustrate this for policymakers and the press. Please share this information with your networks to help inform and mobilize.

Thank you for standing with us in this critical moment. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or if you'd like to coordinate efforts.

Best,

Karen

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	Karen Spangler, MPP, MUP  (she/her/hers) Policy Director, National Farm to School Network
	248.535.3709  | Based in Ann Arbor, MI
	karen@farmtoschool.org
	www.farmtoschool.org

* I acknowledge that I live, learn, and work on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi, and Wyandot peoples. Learn more: https://native-land.ca/

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