Food banks scramble after USDA halts $500 million in deliveries

In the coming weeks, the shelves at dozens of food pantries in California’s Fresno County will be a little emptier. Visitors won’t be able to take home as many groceries, and their bags will contain fewer nutritious items like chicken, eggs, milk and cheese.

In the coming weeks, the shelves at dozens of food pantries in California’s Fresno County will be a little emptier. Visitors won’t be able to take home as many groceries, and their bags will contain fewer nutritious items like chicken, eggs, milk and cheese. That’s largely because the US Department of Agriculture has halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks nationwide that the Biden administration announced last year, multiple food banks told CNN. The Central California Food Bank, which distributes food to 60 pantries in the county, recently learned that 13 truckloads of groceries – worth $850,000 – set to be delivered between April and July were canceled. It comes at a time when many residents are struggling to afford food since supermarket prices remain high, said Natalie Caples, the food bank’s co-CEO. “My food bank in Fresno can’t magically come up with $850,000 and 500,000 pounds of food to backfill that cancelation,” Caples said, noting that the nonprofit is already running at a deficit. “It means neighbors are getting less food when they show up at these distribution sites, and they’re getting a lesser variety of foods.” The USDA confirmed to Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 meal programs, that the agency is reviewing the funding, said Vince Hall, chief government relations officer at the nonprofit. “It is our hope that that the review will conclude with a decision to continue investing CCC (Commodity Credit Corporation) dollars in food purchases,” Hall said, noting that food banks from coast to coast are in danger of not having enough items to meet the need. The problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where food banks rely even more on government-supplied groceries.