Journalist Kevin Hardy on how Trump cuts are proving damaging to small farms, food banks and schools

Recent federal government budget and staffing cuts imposed by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are having devastating impacts in dozens of areas, but one that’s received less attention than it probably deserves is agriculture. As journalist Kevin Hardy of the national news outlet Stateline reported recently, the administration has yanked funding for programs that allowed schools and food banks to buy fresh products from small farms.

Originally funded under the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s local food programs aided some of the nation’s most disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, including newcomers and small farmers and those who have faced racial discrimination, while channeling fresh food and produce to schools and food banks. Now the programs are gone and as Hardy told NC Newsline when we caught up with him earlier this week, the damage being inflicted is widespread and deep.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Stateline journalist Kevin Hardy.