Indigenous food producer hopes Farm Bill will restore programs

Dawn and Cassius Spears would like to expand their southwest Rhode Island farm’s reach beyond their farm stand, but it’s challenging. Like many small food producers, the Spears have sought financial assistance through federal programs. Some of these programs have been cut or significantly scaled back under the Trump Administration, including U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that helped Indigenous farmers like the Spears. Tribes have used these programs to distribute culturally significant foods produced locally. Some legislators are working to reinstate programs as part of the Farm Bill that would help state and tribal governments purchase local food. The Biden administration started two programs during the pandemic to help states and tribes purchase local food from nearby farmers for food banks and schools: the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS). These programs offered farmers, including tribal farmers, reliable markets for their products. Tribal governments received assistance to purchase food from local producers to distribute to tribal members. In March 2025, under the Trump administration, the Agriculture Department ended the two programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks, saying that they no longer aligned with the agency's goals. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Sen. Jim Justice, a West Virginia Republican, introduced a bill they say takes the best from the two programs and creates a permanent grant program. It would allow state and tribal governments to buy local foods from local and regional producers to distribute to nearby hunger relief programs and schools. Reed said he feared that when the USDA programs were cut, families across the country would have a more difficult time getting access to food. And, he said, the access wouldn't be to nutritious, freshly grown produce. This article was provided by The Associated Press.