A federally funded program has been connecting food banks with fresh and local food in Ohio since 2022.
Ohio Community, Agriculture and Nutrition, or Ohio CAN, was expected to assist food banks and pantries through 2027, but those funds are getting cut at the end of June.
"The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, or LFPA, which we call Ohio CAN here in Ohio; Community, Agriculture, and Nutrition, was funded initially through Build Back Better American Rescue Plan Act dollars. And later on by Commodity Credit Corporation dollars," said Joree Novotny, the executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.
She said the Ohio CAN program provided millions of pounds of locally grown products to food banks and pantries across the state.
“Last year, we received about 4.6 million pounds of locally grown, locally produced fruits and vegetables, protein items, dairy, locally milled grains," she said. "Really, really great product.”
The cuts remove a source of revenue for over 170 farmers, growers, and food producers within a 400-mile radius of Columbus.
"We are really disappointed about that change. It's been a really exciting program," Novotny said. "And I know that it's going to really impact farmers directly who were really excited about that opportunity. We've been really proud of it."
Co-owner of Guided by Mushrooms in Dayton, Michael Goldstick, said his company is one of many impacted by these cuts. The program was initially funded under the Biden administration.
"The LFPA program received new funding from the USDA under the previous administration in October," Goldstick said. "However, with the new administration coming in, they started to curtail that. So they started making cuts."
The company was established in 2018 and has since grown to service multiple local restaurants, food banks and more.
"Our first our first customer was Lily's in Dayton, but we pivoted, worked on grocery store accounts during COVID, online farmers markets. Market wagon was a popular choice that we were having some success with during COVID," he said. "But [now] we keep in between anywhere from 80 to 85 clients."
Goldstick said they offered 130 pounds of mushrooms a week through that local food purchase assistance program.
“We feel especially bad for the food banks that have lost funding, the hungry families that are going to lose access to healthier food," he said. "And this comes at a time where the food banks are in the highest demand ever, which is horrible timing.”
He said while losing this line of revenue is disheartening, he fears for other local producers who relied heavily on the program for income.
"This is funded by USDA grant — or was funded by USDA grant — and again, those funds are going to be terminated after June 30," he said. "I can only imagine people who are in a worse situation than us, what they're feeling like right now."
Novotny said the Ohio Association of Foodbanks is working to supplement this loss of funding through cost efficient bulk orders and advocating to the General Assembly.
"It's not a substantial part of the food that we source because we sourced close to 300 million pounds of food last year, but it nonetheless was extremely wholesome, nutritious, quality foods, locally grown and locally distributed," she said. "So first and foremost, we're proud of that program because it helped build and support local and resilient food supply chains. We also are disappointed to lose the food that our neighbors so enjoyed receiving when they needed to come to us for help."
