Stark and Summit County nonprofits that help people facing food insecurity and hunger fear cuts in federal funding could leave their programs starved for resources.
“We are preparing ourselves,” Stark County Hunger Task Force Executive Director Stephanie Sweany said. “It’s hard to navigate and know what is coming around the corner. We are trying to stay on top of it.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced over $1 billion in budget cuts to food banks and schools nationwide, inhibiting their ability to purchase fresh food directly from local farms and food producers. The cuts are part of the Trump administration’s aim to reduce federal spending and government waste.
Funding was cut for two programs: the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program for schools and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program for food banks. More than $600 million was earmarked for schools to purchase locally grown foods, while another $500 million would have gone to food banks this year.
Patrick Imhof, a worker at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, drives a skid past fresh green cabbage produced in the USA in the cooler of the food bank on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Akron, Ohio.
Both programs were introduced by the Biden administration to respond to the impacts to the food supply chain brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the USDA.
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Katie Carver Reed, vice president and chief operating officer of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, said the loss of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program could have a detrimental impact.
The Foodbank provides food to partner organizations in Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. These partners operate 600 food pantries, meal sites, shelters, child and senior programs, and other hunger-relief programs throughout the region.
“This program provided enough food for more than 200,000 meals for our region last year,” Carver Reed said. “We are concerned anytime there are cuts to programs that support the people we serve. We ask our community to continue supporting us and sharing the importance of our work with legislators.”
The nonprofit kicked off its 34th annual Harvest for Hunger campaign at the end of last month.
While the Stark County Hunger Task Force does not receive funding directly from the USDA from this program, the Akron-Canton Foodbank supplies items to the Hunger Task Force’s 37 food pantries throughout Stark.
“This might impact the produce we get and directly impact our clients we serve,” Sweany said.
Federal cuts coupled with a potential reduction in the Ohio Food Program and Agricultural Clearance Program are concerning, she added.
Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed executive budget reduces funding for the state program by 23%. The program procures locally grown produce, protein, dairy and shelf-stable foods and distributes them to Ohioans in need.
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is joining the Ohio Association of Foodbanks in requesting $36.98 million per year in the 2026-2027 state biennial budget to support the program, which would restore those cuts and includes modest additional funds.
The food bank provided more meals in 2024 than any other year in the organization’s history, making it vital that funding is available to help those in need, officials said.
Sweany is focused on providing meals for the 34,000 people fed each month by the Hunger Task Force’s network of food pantries.
“The community has really supported us and we are buckling down and are trying to get as much funding as we can to support our pantry and other programs,” Sweany added.
In addition to its network of food pantries, the Hunger Task Force has a backpack program. Each week, 2,000 backpacks are distributed to students in need in 18 schools across the county.
Volunteers at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank sort through boxes of cereal on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Akron, Ohio.
Donte Cargill, founder and executive director of the Akron-based Patricia Ann Cargill Charities, also raised concerns about the dismantling of these food programs.
Patricia Ann Cargill Charities was founded in 2022 in Cargill’s honor by her son to provide food and pantry items to more than 1,000 families each month while offering assistance for parents and individuals to become more self-sufficient.
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“We’re already starting to feel the effects of the decline in the government spending grants and things like that,” Cargill said. “So, I just feel like it’s going to make it worse for people who can’t afford to buy nutritious food from a grocery store.”
The withdrawal of these funds comes at a time when millions of Americans are dealing with not only rising grocery prices but also food insecurity, defined as having limited or uncertain access to nutritious food.
Nationwide, 1 in 7 individuals faced food insecurity in 2023, according to a USDA report. Children are more at risk for facing food insecurity, with the USDA reporting 1 in 5 don’t have regular access to nutritious food.
Linda Nageotte, president and chief operating officer of Feeding America, recently spoke about food insecurity at an Akron Roundtable event at Quaker Station. She told the audience that local food programs are vital to easing the burden to those people who face questions of paying rent or utility bills versus buying food with nutritional value.
“These federal programs, they worked. I know that there are all kinds of perceptions that government programs are wasteful,” she said.
USA TODAY and Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans contributed to this report.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter @athompsonABJ. Contact reporter Derek Kreider at [email protected] or 330-541-9413.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County Hunger Task Force fears impact of USDA cuts
