Statewide, Iowa (RI) – The Iowa Food System Coalition says the USDA has cancelled contracts worth more than $11 million.
The money was going to be used to help the state’s food banks, schools and child care centers purchase local food from more than 300 Iowa farmers over three years. Coalition executive director Chris Schwartz says the USDA has not explained why it’s cancelling the contracts.
He says the money from previous contracts is set to run out at the end of this month. Schwartz adds the timing couldn’t be worse, as farmers already have seedlings sprouting in greenhouses, they’ve booked processing times at meat lockers, and planned out the year ahead based on this funding.
Iowa has a state program called “Choose Iowa” that will allocate $70,000 across all schools in Iowa for one year, but it’s not enough to fill in the gaps left by the USDA’s cuts. Schwartz and the coalition are calling on Iowans to boost local food purchases to support farmers.
