Newsom appeals ‘irrational and malicious’ decision to cut USDA food assistance program

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent an urgent appeal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Saturday, imploring the department to reverse the abrupt cancellation of a Biden-era program that feeds millions of California families and has served as a lifeline for hundreds of small farmers since its inception in 2021.

“The irrational and malicious slashing of funds will not only hurt our farmers, but also the families who need food banks,” Newsom said in a release announcing the appeal.

The California Department of Social Services appeal letter called the move “unlawful” and said it should be undone.

The USDA’s program began doling out grants to states and tribal governments in 2022, in an attempt to decentralize and diversify food supply chains after the strain of the pandemic.

Since inking its deal with the federal government that spring, California has received $88.5 million in program cash, which it funnels through food banks and other aid programs to purchase food from “local [and] socially disadvantaged farmers.” The state was slated to receive an additional $47 million this year.

Instead, the USDA announced in March that it was eliminating the program. The agency did not immediately respond to questions about the decision.

Cash that had already been allocated and was meant to pay out through 2026 was briefly frozen, leaving farmers unsure what seeds to sow in the middle of their planting season, said Becky Silva, director of government relations for the California Assn. of Food Banks.

That funding has since been restored, but no new money is coming, Silva said.

The move has left many farmers reeling.

“Farmers are constantly calling me about what’s going to happen,” wrote Ken Vang of Fresno BIPOC Produce, as part of the appeal. “Farmers have planted several crops just for the program because the program meant guaranteed income for them. Now they are worried that their crops will not have a home.”

Others worried their farms would go under without the government program.

“Not only is the lack of income devastating to our farm, it brings a massive uncertainty to the future of farming for our family,” wrote Mariela Buenrostro of Raul & Family Farms in Riverside.

Because the USDA program funds local farmers to grow crops specifically for food banks, its elimination will also slash what safety net programs can offer at a time when more Californians face food insecurity and hunger.

“It’s a huge loss,” said Becky Silva, director of government relations for the California Assn. of Food Banks, which got more than $22 million from the state’s allocation last year. “It’s a really daunting time for food banks.”

More than a quarter of California families with children were struggling to keep food on the table in September, the last month for which data are available. At the program’s outset, that number was 30%.

“If you ask food banks in California, they’re sharing some of the highest demand they’ve ever seen,” Silva said. “The Community Action Partnership of Kern County are seeing 150% increase in the lines at their food distribution centers.”

The USDA cuts hit at the same time Sacramento is scaling back the Cal Foods program, which supplies food banks and is set to drop to $8 million from $60 million in June.

Both state and federal belt tightening strikes aid programs amid widespread food inflation. In February, the most recent month for which federal data are available, grocery prices in Los Angeles were 2.5% higher than a year earlier. In March, the USDA predicted “food-at-home” prices would spike an additional 2.7% across the U.S. by the end of 2025.

Those predictions did not account for the raft of new tariffs that began taking effect last week. Economists expect they will push the price of food higher still.

“The USDA has failed to provide a reasoned explanation for the unilateral termination… suggesting its actions are arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion,” Deputy Director Alexis Fernandez Garcia wrote in the California Department of Social Services appeal letter. “[It] must be reversed.”