I wanted to highlight this article to offer up a couple observations. One is that a lot of these types of programs just free up people to spend money on other things they don’t need like cigarettes and drugs, including the liquid ones. And having acquaintances that administered similar programs, they distributed resources to friends and family not in need… And I’m getting sick of people complaining about what DOGE is attempting to do by reigning in federal spending. Our country is broke, and if you’re a taxpayer, your slice of the national debt is $323,048. And the expense of servicing this debt is now more than what we spend on the entire military. And the government just keeps adding to this debt with budget deficits. So unless you’re going to write a check for your share of the national debt, perhaps you should be quiet. There is nothing worse than a bunch of broke people advocating we keep spending money we don’t have, and I’d bet their households are in debt themselves without much in savings, the very people that will suffer the most when this house of cards crashes to the ground. And if you’re not broke, then you can give to the charities of your choice instead of forcing it on your fellow taxpayers.
By: Oil City News
CASPER, Wyo. — A USDA grant allowing the Food Bank of Wyoming to purchase fresh food directly from Wyoming suppliers has been eliminated in the latest round of sweeping cuts to federal agencies.
The Food Bank of Wyoming received the grant through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, or LFPA, allowing the nonprofit to build a network of Wyoming family farmers and ranchers to supply locally sourced food to be distributed to food-insecure people in the state.
The USDA announced it was terminating the LFPA — along with the Local Food for Schools programs — as part of billionaire industrialist Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, mission to drastically cut and remake numerous federal agencies. Both programs were established by the Biden administration under executive order to help support local food suppliers and offer alternatives to corporate food conglomerates as the country recovered from the COVID pandemic.
The Food Bank of Wyoming first received around $551,000 from the program in 2023, said Executive Director Jill Stillwagon. The program sends money to the state, which then reimburses the food bank for its purchases, she said.
Their current grant funding will run out in July, she said, but they found out last week that $535,000 slated for the next fiscal year would not be available.
In just the two years with the grants, the Food Bank was able to build a network of numerous Wyoming food growers and open new avenues for their products, according to the Food Bank’s food sourcing manager, Odessa Oldham.
“We’ve built relationships with about 14 producers, and I’m hoping by the end of July that we hit either 16 or 18,” she said. “It’s given us an opportunity to not only build a relationship with them, but to turn around and give that food away at no cost.”
Sourcing more food locally has ripple effects throughout the community, helping local economies and reducing transportation costs and food waste, Oldham said.
“We’ve actually been able to spend more on produce than I thought we would here in Wyoming, which is mainly known as a beef state,” she said. “But there are little niches that we didn’t know about.” Among them are Mountain Fresh in Pinedale that produces microgreens, and 1890 Farms in Pavilion.
“We did a lot of work with 1890 Farms, which is a family operation,” Odessa said. “Not only did we help them move their product this year, but they’re going to be able to build their operation and production because of this program. It’s been an awesome opportunity to get these local farmers and ranchers to build on their own establishment, the local food movement that we’ve been pushing for has finally started to happen.”
“I’m really hoping that we can continue that momentum in these next couple of years,” she added.
However, that momentum could be more challenging now that the grant has been eliminated. Oldham is optimistic that a foundation for sustainability has been established. “The funding was an opportunity to help them up on their feet and make them be in a competitive market,” she said.
The Food Bank of Wyoming relies on two other major grants to help meet its budget, Stillwagon said. As of now, that funding is still in place. “We are kind of holding tight until more information comes out, but as of right now the LFPA was the only grant that was terminated,” she said.
The cuts come at a precarious time for the state. “The food insecurity need in Wyoming is at its highest level in 10 years,” she said.
About one in seven adults and one in five children is classified as food insecure in Wyoming, she said. That’s more than 14% of residents, or some 80,000 people. “When you think about the size of our population, that’s a pretty good portion of our residents.”
“We’re continuing to reach out to donors and encouraging them to make a gift, because for every dollar donated to the Food Bank, we’re able to provide enough food for three meals,” she said. “Regardless of what’s happening right now, our goal is to continue nourishing Wyoming’s people that are experiencing food insecurity.”
Donation and volunteer information can be found at the Food Bank of Wyoming’s website.