Food banks across the country are scrambling to make up a $500 million budget shortfall after the Trump administration froze funds for hundreds of shipments of produce, poultry and other items that states had planned to distribute to needy residents.
The Biden administration had slated the aid for distribution to food banks during the 2025 fiscal year through the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which is run by the Agriculture Department and backed by a federal fund known as the Commodity Credit Corporation. But in recent weeks, many food banks learned that the shipments they had expected to receive this spring had been suspended.
Vince Hall, chief of government relations for Feeding America, a nationwide network of over 60,000 food pantries and other distributors, said that when he asked U.S.D.A. officials about the suspended shipments, he was told that the department was reviewing the food aid programs funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation.
It was unclear whether the review was related to the activities of Elon Musk’s DOGE team, which has sought to curtail spending across the government.
The halt to the funds, which was first reported by Politico, comes in addition to other recent cuts to federal food assistance. Earlier this month, the Agriculture Department halted two other programs that distributed food to banks and schools. Lawmakers are also mulling cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, which were used by about 42 million people in the 2023 fiscal year.
Food bank directors fear that an across-the-board contraction to federal food assistance could drive more people to food banks just as they are losing access to critical supplementary funds.
“This is perhaps the first moment in the history of food banking that we have seen record low unemployment and record high demand at food banks,” Mr. Hall said. “Any circumstance that would cause even a modest increase in demand at food distributions will result in a food crisis.”
Representatives of the Agriculture Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Hall said that Feeding America had struggled to get clear guidance from U.S.D.A. about how long the review will take, and whether the funds would ever be restored. Food banks have been left with little time to identify new funds and supplies, and with no assurance that the aid would ever be restored.
In the meantime, Mr. Hall added, rural communities would most likely feel the deepest immediate impact. Emergency food assistance programs, including those funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, are “the food lifeline for rural America,” he explained, because they come with funding to improve food storage and distribution, which can be more challenging in rural areas.
The direct impact to communities across the country is likely to vary by state.
“It’s really hard to make up that volume that C.C.C. had been providing, especially at a time when the need is so great,” said Danny Faccinetti, vice president of Oregon Food Bank, which is expecting to lose access to 30 truckloads of food under the freeze.
Oregon’s food banks reported a 31 percent increase in use of their services in the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in June, compared with the year before. In late 2024, the funds in question made up 18 percent of all food aid they had distributed.
“It’s going to be a really, really big hit for certain areas,” Mr. Faccinetti continued, adding: “We’re already maximizing some of the donations that were available to us, so it would be difficult to make that up.”
In Maryland, food bank officials were notified that the U.S.D.A.’s freeze would deprive them of 12 truckloads of items like chicken, eggs, collard greens and blueberries. They are expecting to have four additional shipments frozen as well, for a total of almost $1.3 million in lost goods. But they seem relatively certain they will be able to weather the immediate impact of that cut without having to shortchange the approximately one million people who rely on their distribution centers.
In nearby Virginia, however, Eddie Oliver, the executive director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, said one food bank lost a scheduled shipment of seven loads of food, accounting for about a third of what the food bank was expecting this year through the Emergency Food Assistance Program.
“It’s going to be hard for us to replace that,” he said, noting the current economic climate. “Collectively, Virginia food banks are spending five times more money on food than we did in 2019, both because of higher food prices and greater demand at our pantries.”
Cynthia D. Kirkhart, the chief executive of Facing Hunger food bank, which manages about 250 pantries in West Virginia, put the losses her state is facing in more quantifiable terms.
“One thousand fifty cases of cheese; boned chicken by the can, 600 cases; fresh milk, 1,200 cases — all that stuff’s not coming,” she said.
In New Mexico, food bank officials are also doing some fast calculations in order to weather the unexpected suspension of federal assistance.
Food bank administrators there are bracing for missing 24 truckloads of food, including milk, cheese, cranberries and meats, that they had expected to receive between April and June. Officials are contemplating canceling contracts for future food purchases in order to free up funds needed immediately, according to Sonya Warwick, the communications director for Roadrunner Food Bank, part of the Feeding America network.
New Mexico’s network of food pantries includes several rural areas that are experiencing significant food insecurity, Ms. Warwick said, citing places like McKinley County, which includes tribal land and has a large Native American population, and where more than 30 percent of children are at risk of hunger.
While the state has allocated some extra funds for food aid, it is not enough to meet the growing need amid dwindling resources, Ms. Warwick added.
“None of us have crystal balls, but what we can do is encourage the community to get involved and get engaged,” she said.
If they cannot find resources through private donors, some food banks worry that they may need to cut back on the assistance they can offer the needy.
“Essentially, we had anticipated receiving many truckloads of U.S.D.A. food over the next few months,” said Cathy Kanefsky, the president and chief executive officer of the Food Bank of Delaware.
“Now it’s uncertain whether we will receive this food, meaning less meals we can provide to our neighbors,” she said, adding: “The effect on our neighbors could be devastating.”
Campbell Robertson, Chris Cameron and Linda Qiu contributed reporting from Washington.