‘It’s disappointing’: North Texas food banks lose $2 million in federal funding cuts
Food banks serving thousands of families across North Texas have just lost millions in federal funding, and they’re unsure how they will make up for it.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut funding for two federal programs that provided food banks and schools with money to buy food from local farmers. Over $1 billion in funding for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement has been frozen.
Created during the pandemic, the LFPA was designed to benefit food banks, which could purchase more fresh food, and support the local farmers they bought goods from.
Julie Butner, president and CEO of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, said the organization had planned on receiving $2 million through the LFPA program this year. It will no longer get the funds, and Butner isn’t sure how the food bank will make up the shortfall.
“It’s disappointing that the federal government has taken this step,” she said.
About 40% of the organization’s food budget comes from government funding, with donations supporting another 55%.
Butner said the Tarrant Area Food Bank previously received $4 million in grants through the LFPA program, which it used to purchase food from 25 local farmers and producers.
“This was a fantastic, forward-thinking approach from the federal government to provide funding to food banks that in turn, supported local farmers and growers to fuel that local food ecosystem,” Butner said. “So, we’re not transporting food from California, or from Mexico, or from other places. We can actually grow it right here locally, and bring it directly into our grocery stores, and into our local food bank.”
Produce purchased through LFPA was distributed through the food bank’s Sid Richardson Agricultural Hub in Fort Worth, which opened in February 2024, and some was given to other small food banks in the area.
Based in Fort Worth, the Tarrant Area Food Bank provides food to dozens of pantries across 13 North Texas counties. Over 512,000 people in the organization’s service area face food insecurity, over a third of whom are children.
The food bank relies heavily on donations, most of which are not fresh foods due to their short shelf life. The organization distributed roughly 21 million pounds of fresh produce during its 2024 fiscal year, which made up 35% of all the food it gave out.
Butner is afraid more federal cuts to food assistance programs could be on the horizon. Congress will need to pass another annual farm bill in the fall, which allocates significant funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“When we as a food bank do not receive the federal funds that we had anticipated in our own budget process, it means we have less to provide to our neighbors and to our families who are faced with food insecurity,” Butner said.
Food insecurity is expected to rise as the region’s population grows. Butner said inflation has stressed budgets and that a national reduction in jobs is typically an indication more people will use the food bank’s services.
Texas is one of the most food insecure states in the nation, with roughly 5 million people facing hunger.
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 8:40 AM.
