One-Two-Three Punch to Food Programs Mean More Suffering for Oregonians

Another week, another realization about how the federal government affects local people’s lives. Last week, local nonprofit NeighborImpact sent out a warning about its ability to help keep people fed. Recent cuts to food programs would mean a 17% reduction in the amount of food it can provide to the tens of thousands of people in the region who have relied on its offerings over the last several months, its executive director told the Source.

Federal funding reductions for food programs are coming in a number of forms. In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would end the 2025 funding for two programs that began during the pandemic, including the Local Food Purchase Assistance program and the Local Food for Schools programs — both which fed hungry people, as well as benefiting local farmers by funneling Oregon-grown food into Oregon food banks and schools.

On top of those cuts, the USDA also cut its funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program by one-third — a move that prompted pushback by the Oregon State Senate, and the state’s Democratic delegation in Washington, D.C., this month.

Oh, and then there’s the looming threat to cut food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that helps low-income Americans buy food, all in the name of cutting the federal budget. The idea there is that states will step in to cover a portion of the federal SNAP program’s costs. That’s dicey, according to the nonpartisan policy institute, Center for American Progress. During economic downturns, states have seen decreased tax revenues and have historically been unable to keep up with the costs of SNAP. Cuts like that could affect some 43 million Americans, the Center’s recent analysis suggests.

The USDA has stated that the pandemic is over, and thus, the pandemic-era programs needed to end. Meantime, the need for food assistance has not abated, and in fact is at record levels, food bank providers told us. As the Source reported in November, even before the new administration came into power, local nonprofits were reporting record-setting demand for food. It’s only gotten worse. When we wrote that report, U.S. Census Bureau data showed that the percentage of families with kids under 18 who were below the poverty level in Deschutes County was 10.5%. This month, that figure is 11%.

The impacts of hunger include the obvious — the hits to children’s growth and development, an increased risk for chronic disease — but hunger has other impacts, too, including a sense of hopelessness and apathy. Those who care for the well-being of their neighbors will see this for what it is: a cruel game of chess where the most vulnerable in our society are treated as pawns.

For those who think only in economic terms, perhaps thinking of it like this might strike a nerve: a weakened populace can mean a less productive workforce.

Whether you think of it in one way, or both, this is not how we make a great country. A broader focus on bringing high-paying jobs back to the U.S. may be the rallying cry behind all of this, but that’s going to ring hollow when the jobs take years — if at all — to materialize, and people starve in the meantime.

Those who support the policies of this administration should see this as an opportunity to return to the “local control” they advocate for. Support the local organizations providing the most basic of needs, so the gaping hole that the federal government is creating is not so deeply felt. This is literally life or death.

This article appears in Source Weekly April 17, 2025.