Trump Administration Slashes $500 Million in U.S. Food Aid Amid Rising Hunger

The Trump administration has canceled $500 million in deliveries from a federal food aid program that provides U.S.-produced meat, dairy, eggs, and produce to food banks nationwide. The cuts, representing roughly a quarter of the program’s 2024 budget, have disrupted The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which for decades has helped feed millions of Americans facing food insecurity.

The cancellations began in mid-May and affected more than 4,300 scheduled deliveries across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico—amounting to nearly 94 million pounds of food that never reached food banks. The disruption hit hardest in rural and high-poverty areas where organizations rely heavily on federal assistance to feed families.

The cuts come as demand for food aid surges to its highest level since the Great Recession. Food banks nationwide report that more families are seeking help as grocery prices rise and private donations decline. At the same time, the administration has enacted the largest reduction to food stamps in the program’s history, slashing $187 billion over the next decade and tightening eligibility requirements.

The funding rollback has forced many food banks to reduce the amount and quality of food distributed, with some organizations reporting shortages of protein and dairy products. Smaller and rural food banks—especially those with limited state support—have been hit the hardest, struggling to fill the gap with less perishable donations that are often of lower nutritional value.

The administration justified the cuts by labeling the additional funding created in the previous administration as a “Biden-era slush fund.” However, for many communities, those funds were a critical lifeline. The reduction comes at a time when hunger remains widespread and the cost of living continues to rise.

Experts warn that with further reductions expected in SNAP and Medicaid, hunger and hardship will deepen across the country. Food banks say they have no “option B” to replace the lost aid, and with the Farm Bill up for renewal this fall, they fear that even greater cuts could follow.

In the wake of these decisions, millions of Americans who depend on federal nutrition programs are left facing increasingly empty shelves—and an uncertain future.

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