Federal funding slashes may make it harder for food-insecure residents of Providence to access fresh food – and harder for small-scale Providence farmers and fishers to earn a living.
Since 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) provided food-insecure Rhode Islanders with free local produce and seafood, while funding Rhode Island farmers and fishers in the process.
In December, the initiative was extended through 2027 as LFPA25. However, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM), which administered the grant, received a termination notice from the USDA on March 7. The notice stated that the LFPA25 agreement would end in 60 days, rather than the three years initially promised, according to RI DEM Programming Services Officer Evan LaCross.
These cuts appear to be part of widespread efforts to reduce federal spending.
“We are returning the Department of Agriculture to its core mission of supporting farmers and ranchers,” said US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in a statement. “I am proud to work with DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency] to streamline inefficiencies across the department. At the same time, I understand that this review process has caused concern among some of your farmers who participate in longstanding USDA farm programs.”
Feeding Rhode Islanders
LFPA-funded programs nationwide that improved agricultural supply chain resiliency, getting locally-produced food into the mouths of underserved community members.
In Rhode Island, the grants brokered a collaborative effort between the RI DEM, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT), the African Alliance of RI, the Commercial Fisheries Center of RI (CFCRI), and the RI Food Policy Council to launch the The Rhody Feeding Rhody Alliance.
The Rhody Feeding Rhody Alliance used the funding to pay local farmers and fishers for their products, which were then distributed to organizations that provide free food to low-income and marginalized communities. For example, SCLT used LFPA funding to contract with 28 small-scale farmers of color to provide affordable local food for programs to alleviate hunger. Editor’s Note: See related story in The Providence Eye
Rhody Feeding Rhody Alliance distribution centers, like St. Peter and St. Andrew’s Food Pantry on Pomona Ave. and Women’s Refugee Care on Broad St., can be viewed on the map below.
Click on the map here to see Providence sites
Supporting Local Food Producers
CFCRI Co-Director Shaye Rooney said that their Seafood Donation Program, which started during the COVID-19 pandemic, has grown over the years as a result of LFPA funding – including expanding the types of seafood they donate, working with new partners, and providing greater security for local fishers.
“We’ve created this really cool relationship with a lot of the fishermen that are partnering with us where they are catching fish specifically for this program,” Rooney said. “They’re all very passionate about this program, they like the fact that their product is staying local, that it’s helping to feed Rhode Islanders.”
SCLT Executive Director Margaret DeVos said that funding local food producers helps build a more sustainable and resilient food system.
“Rhody Feeding Rhody is about being able to grow the food here, that we eat here,” DeVos said. “It’s important that all states can figure out a way to have a reliable food system – it doesn’t just happen. The USDA is a really big part of that.”
Future Challenges
DeVos said that in the Providence communities where SCLT gardens and farms are located, the food system is currently not working. Farmers across the country are retiring, and the cost of producing healthy food is higher than what most residents can afford, and climbing higher.
“Everyone in this country is not paying the full cost of our food system because the USDA has been helping with that,” DeVos said. “If they’re not going to continue to help, [support] is going to have to come from somewhere else.”
Farmers across SCLT and their partner organizations now need to find new revenue streams to replace the lost LFPA grants. DeVos said that SCLT is working to secure customers such as retailers, restaurants, school districts, and food distributors for their impacted farmers.
Rooney cited similar challenges for impacted fishers. “The market access might be different,” she said. “They might need to send their fish out of state.”
Despite these challenges, Rooney said CFCRI’s Seafood Donation Program has diverse funding sources that will continue to support their donation efforts, including grants from nonprofits, private entities, developers and individuals. However, losing federal funding means the program may need to operate at a smaller scale.
DeVos said there are plenty of people in Rhode Island who continue to be interested in creating a more sustainable food system, so the Rhody Feeding Rhody Alliance mission will survive. “With or without funding, we are working together to make plans to continue it”, she said, “The LFPA really helped us to increase the volume of produce that is available, to create incentives for growers; now we have to find new channels and more channels to get that food it to the people who need it.”
Strengthening the food system is more than just transactional, “it’s jobs, sustainable agriculture, resiliency, healthy communities. It’s really important to have young people who know how to produce food. Maybe the current system gets you a good mango, but it doesn’t get you food security,” DeVos added.
RI DEM is on board. “DEM remains committed to the goals and objectives of the LFPA program despite its cancellation by USDA,” LaCross said. “We will continue to support entities in RI such as the Rhody Feeding Rhody Alliance.”
TAKE ACTION: Providence residents interested in supporting SCLT growers can attend their annual Rare & Unusual Plant Sale or several farmers markets.)
Abby Brennan is a project manager and writer focused on housing, education, and sustainability. She previously worked as the editor of Community Impact Newspaper in Leander, Texas, and her writing has appeared in ecoRI News. Abby also volunteers with the Community Libraries of Providence. Read more of her work at www.abigailbrennan.com.
