Riceville Community School District used LFS funds to purchase local produce for school lunches. (Photo courtesy of Riceville CSD)
Iowa farmers and institutions lost an estimated $11.3 million in federal funding to support the purchase of locally raised foods, following the recent termination of two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship notified partners Monday afternoon that agreements made under the Local Food for Schools, or LFS, program and Local Food Purchase Assistance, LFPA, program announced in late 2024, was terminated by USDA.
Ryan Marquardt, owner of Wild Rose Pastures in Van Meter, said the programs, which began in 2022, have increased gross sales on his 20-acre cattle, egg and poultry operation by 50% over the past three years.
“We planned our 2025 production based on the promise of these programs continuing,” Marquardt said in a press release with Iowa Farmers Union. “Now, we have product in the pipeline with nowhere to sell it.”
Local purchasing programs
LFS and LFPA were created in response to supply chain shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and since 2022, states have been awarded more than $1 billion in support for local food purchases, according to USDA.
Iowa’s agriculture department awarded nearly $2 million in LFS funding to more than 160 schools in the state. The last round of the funding ended in December, but the program allowed kitchen managers to stock salad bars and school lunch trays with fresh produce from farms in their communities, without breaking their tight budgets.
In Iowa, public and private schools that received the grants partnered with a local food hub that facilitated the farm-to-school connections and logistics.
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The other program, the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, funded the purchase of local food, defined as within 400 miles, for underserved communities.
Iowa was awarded more than $5.6 million in funds for the program to purchase local food for food banks, nonprofit organizations, food pantries, early childhood centers and senior centers through May 2025.
Another Iowa Farmers Union member, Mari Hunt Wassink, of Black Earth Gardens in Cedar Rapids, said the programs allowed schools and organizations in her community to purchase from her farm, which she said was “fulfilling” to her calling as a farmer.
“One of the reasons I fell in love with farming is because I want to feed my community and make sure everyone has access to healthy, delicious food,” Hunt Wassink said in the Farmers Union press release. “I really don’t see a downside to the LFPA/LFS programs—they are a win for small, local farmers who need fair prices for our produce, and it’s a win for our school-aged kids and families across Iowa who live with food insecurity.”
According to the state agriculture department, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is processing claims made prior to and after Jan. 20, 2025 for expenses that were part of the initial grant programs funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation.
In October 2024, USDA announced a $1.2 billion investment to continue the local purchasing programs, also through CCC funds, and in December announced the start of the funding round.
Iowa had an estimated $8.3 million in LFS funding and an estimated $2.9 million in LFPA funding from the fiscal year 2025 investment into the program, which the federal agriculture department has now terminated.
Don McDowell, public information officer with Iowa’s agriculture department, said the change was part of the Trump administration’s review of federal spending and programs.
“It should not come as a surprise that a program announced in October 2024 by executive action, rather than legislatively directed, won’t be continued past its original end date,” McDowell said in a statement.
Peter Kraus, general manger of the Iowa Food Hub, said LFS and LFPA have been successful in Iowa, and well supported. Kraus said the 150 partnering producers and 40 partnering schools he works with are “pretty upset” by the sudden yanking of funding.
“A lot of investment has been made in anticipating this funding,” Kraus said.
Farmers have already hired hands for the growing season and schools were making out their menus for the year and featuring local products. Kraus said his organization scaled up its infrastructure to meet the expected demand this growing season and now is facing the reality that it’s hard to “step backwards.”
“If they’re looking for waste, there isn’t any here,” Kraus said, noting the funding goes to schools and food banks, then right back into the community. “If they’re looking for ‘America First’, local food is what ‘America First’ could look like.”
Local food coalition pushes for Double Up Food Bucks, local grocery initiatives
Lawmakers in Iowa have led several efforts this session related to healthy eating and local food. One bill would fund the Double Up Food Bucks program in Iowa, but only if the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in the state were restricted to only healthy food purchases. Another bill would have Iowa schools request a waiver from school nutrition guidelines in favor of more Iowa-specific foods. Other bills, like House File 550, would support local food processing and rural grocery stores.
On Monday, the state agriculture department announced a pilot program to help schools purchase local food as part of the Choose Iowa program. The program is similar to the LFS funding, but the pilot has $70,000 to allocate for the upcoming fall semester.
McDowell said programs like this, and the Choose Iowa purchasing pilot program that worked with food banks, are important to Iowa producers and communities.
“The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will continue to pursue future opportunities to grow markets for local farmers and Iowa grown and raised foods,” McDowell said.
Kraus said the program is a “step in the right direction” but “it’s just not the same magnitude” as the funding that was terminated.
Iowa Farmers Union urged Iowans to shop locally to “sustain the farms that have worked so hard to feed our communities.”
“These farms have been growing food for Iowa families, schools, and food banks,” Aaron Lehman, IFU president, said. “We can’t let the USDA’s decision undermine everything they’ve built.”
Kraus said this loss of market for farmers would affect the entire local food chain.
“We need to send a message to USDA and to our state officials to make sure they understand how upsetting this is,” Kraus said. “It’s not just the schools, not just the food banks. We’re all in this together.”
USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
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