Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force says $615,000 worth of food it was expecting this summer has been canceled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Hunger Task Force, a nonprofit food pantry in West Milwaukee, tells WISN 12 News the USDA has halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks nationwide.According to the Hunger Task Force, that $500 million in funding came from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, which provides additional resources to purchase food from American farmers and ranchers and send it to emergency food providers. Two orders from the Commodity Credit Corporation were set to be received between June and September, totaling $2.2 million worth of food for the entire state of Wisconsin. The halting of funding means that the Hunger Task Force has had five full truckloads of canned chicken, cheese, milk and eggs canceled. Another eight partial truckloads of turkey breasts, chicken legs, pulled pork and pork chops are also no longer arriving. The Hunger Task Force says those cuts represent over 302,000 pounds of food valued at $615,000, which is a little more than 25% of the state’s canceled total. “This is having a big impact, not only for food banks around the country and here in Milwaukee, but also, our growers and farmers,” Hunger Task Force CEO Matt King said. This new cut in funding comes just weeks after the Hunger Task Force lost $250,000 in funding when the Local Food Purchase Assistance Agreement Program ended. That program allocated funding to food banks to spend on high-quality food from area sources.”They are just not going to be able to eat it anymore its going back to like that canned food or whatever non perishable they have,” Lauren Pomodaro of Happy Day Farmhaus previously told 12 News.A USDA spokesperson sent the following statement to WISN 12 News regarding the funding cuts:“The Biden Administration inflated statutory programs with Commodity Credit Corporation dollars without any plans for long-term solutions, and even in 2024, used the pandemic as a reason to make funding announcements. While the pandemic is over, USDA has not and will not lose focus on its core mission of strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious foods. For example, earlier this month, USDA released over half a billion in previously obligated funds for LFPA, LFPA for Tribes, and LFS to fulfill existing commitments and support ongoing local food purchases. As of today, Wisconsin is one of more than two dozen States to ask for—and receive—a no-cost extension of this program. Plainly, WI received a lot of money and needs time to spend it.” The USDA spokesperson went on to say the USDA remains focused on strengthening food security and maintaining other funding streams, including an additional $261 million in Section 32 purchases that were recently approved.The Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 under a Delaware charter and reincorporated June 30, 1948, as a federal corporation within the Department of Agriculture by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.The Hunger Task Force says despite the loss of funding and food deliveries, it is confident it will have enough inventory to keep the community fed through its emergency food network.”It’s a challenge, and it’s a setback, especially amidst a time of increased need, but we do have enough food, and enough support from the community to weather this challenge,” King told 12 News.For more information about the Hunger Task Force, click here.
Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force says $615,000 worth of food it was expecting this summer has been canceled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Hunger Task Force, a nonprofit food pantry in West Milwaukee, tells WISN 12 News the USDA has halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks nationwide.
According to the Hunger Task Force, that $500 million in funding came from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, which provides additional resources to purchase food from American farmers and ranchers and send it to emergency food providers.
Two orders from the Commodity Credit Corporation were set to be received between June and September, totaling $2.2 million worth of food for the entire state of Wisconsin.
The halting of funding means that the Hunger Task Force has had five full truckloads of canned chicken, cheese, milk and eggs canceled. Another eight partial truckloads of turkey breasts, chicken legs, pulled pork and pork chops are also no longer arriving.
The Hunger Task Force says those cuts represent over 302,000 pounds of food valued at $615,000, which is a little more than 25% of the state’s canceled total.
“This is having a big impact, not only for food banks around the country and here in Milwaukee, but also, our growers and farmers,” Hunger Task Force CEO Matt King said.
This new cut in funding comes just weeks after the Hunger Task Force lost $250,000 in funding when the Local Food Purchase Assistance Agreement Program ended. That program allocated funding to food banks to spend on high-quality food from area sources.
“They are just not going to be able to eat it anymore its going back to like that canned food or whatever non perishable they have,” Lauren Pomodaro of Happy Day Farmhaus previously told 12 News.
A USDA spokesperson sent the following statement to WISN 12 News regarding the funding cuts:
“The Biden Administration inflated statutory programs with Commodity Credit Corporation dollars without any plans for long-term solutions, and even in 2024, used the pandemic as a reason to make funding announcements.
While the pandemic is over, USDA has not and will not lose focus on its core mission of strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious foods. For example, earlier this month, USDA released over half a billion in previously obligated funds for LFPA, LFPA for Tribes, and LFS to fulfill existing commitments and support ongoing local food purchases. As of today, Wisconsin is one of more than two dozen States to ask for—and receive—a no-cost extension of this program. Plainly, WI received a lot of money and needs time to spend it.”
The USDA spokesperson went on to say the USDA remains focused on strengthening food security and maintaining other funding streams, including an additional $261 million in Section 32 purchases that were recently approved.
The Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 under a Delaware charter and reincorporated June 30, 1948, as a federal corporation within the Department of Agriculture by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.
The Hunger Task Force says despite the loss of funding and food deliveries, it is confident it will have enough inventory to keep the community fed through its emergency food network.
“It’s a challenge, and it’s a setback, especially amidst a time of increased need, but we do have enough food, and enough support from the community to weather this challenge,” King told 12 News.
For more information about the Hunger Task Force, click here.
