Funding Freeze Hits Local Food Banks

Local food assistance organization, NeighborImpact, is sounding the alarms about a federal funding freeze that’s affecting its ability to provide food to Central Oregonians. The payment freeze, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is aimed at a set of food assistance programs that redistribute food commodities to food banks, leading to a significant decrease in food aid.

According to Scott Cooper, NeighborImpact’s executive director, the nonprofit notified its food partners last week that it’ll be getting 17% less food moving forward. In recent months, the nonprofit fed about 83,000 people in the region. With cuts to incoming products, Cooper said it will result in thousands of people not being fed, or not getting enough food.

The funding freeze is also impacting the type of food that’s given to food banks. These products include dairy, meat, eggs and produce — some of the most expensive grocery items right now, according to Cooper.

In early March, NeighborImpact went to Washington, D.C., to shed light on this issue and request support. On April 5, Congresswoman Janelle Bynum visited the nonprofit to assist in its efforts, and in the letter called for the Department of Agriculture to reverse its funding freeze.

“This misguided freeze is actively impacting the ability of Oregon food banks to place food orders and worsening food insecurity in our communities,” read the letter. “We urge you to reverse this funding freeze immediately to ensure that Oregon families — and families across the country — do not face disruption to essential food distribution services.”

Cooper said the situation could easily be reversed by the USDA. He hopes that the letter will encourage change.

“I am delighted that [Bynum] came to put a spotlight on what is going to be a really impactful situation for a lot of Central Oregonians,” Cooper told the Source Weekly.

The funding freeze will affect food banks across the state and the U.S., cutting back a significant portion of the food they receive, according to Cooper.

“We’re lucky in Central Oregon. We get a little more of our food through the donations mechanism of the grocery stores. So, for us it’s about 17% of our total food supply. For the Oregon Food Bank, it’s around 30%,” he said.

With a lot of uncertainty ahead, and fears around additional spending cuts that could slash food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by 30%, the nonprofit has also gone to local legislators to ask for state support in the form of funding.

“We asked for funding of $2 million a year for the biennium, which would be enough to help us continue to purchase food at a wholesale level to offset these losses, as well as sustain all the operations for an ever-increasing number of people,” Cooper said. “And, by the way, all this is before the effects of a potential recession setting in.”

This article appears in Source Weekly April 10, 2025.