On Day 24 of the government shutdown, pressure to agree on a budget increases as the nation deals with a dwindling food supply and farmers and ranchers struggle after USDA cuts.
Florida food banks such as Farmshare and Salvation Army Miami are already feeling its effects, saying that food is becoming more scarce by the minute.
“Our lines seem to be getting longer,” said Major Gene Hogg, the area commander of Salvation Army Miami. “Unfortunately, we’re headed into a man-made disaster situation.”
Hogg says limited USDA services to farmers are impacting the organization’s ability to feed low-income families in South Florida .
One service, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, also known as TEFAP, purchases produce and proteins from U.S. farmers for distribution to low-income households through food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens.
“We are forced not to have the nutrient-dense meals that we’re normally passing out. Because we don’t have fresh produce,” said Hogg. “Frozen strawberries and dried beans. That’s all we got. They don’t make a meal.”
Hogg says the solutions that Salvation Army Miami have so far are finding other vendors to buy produce from and asking for donations from the Miami community.
Meanwhile, Farm Share partners with Florida farmers to deliver produce to food banks like Salvation Army Miami. CEO Stephen Shelley says that Florida farmers are now planting their crops to harvest, but are currently hitting a roadblock because of the shutdown.
“They wouldn’t have access to loans to purchase the supplies that they need to plant their crops,” said Shelley.
Another issue Shelley points to is the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which take away a large revenue stream from local farmers who sell what they grow to other countries.
“There’s no money or no access to money to potentially plant those crops,” said Shelley. “And then even if they get those crops planted, there’s a smaller market now because of these tariffs and trade barriers in existence.”
He also says there’s been significant delays in USDA food deliveries from local farmers all over the U.S., leading to less supply for food deliveries across the state. His main concern lies with Florida’s rural communities.
“The rural communities are affected kind of disproportionately,” said Shelley. “Especially if you have a rural community that’s dependent on the farmers as their main economic engine.”
While he hopes for the return of these USDA programs, specifically TEFAP, Shelley also says they benefit mostly Midwest farmers and not Florida farmers who grow specialty crops, causing their farms to go out of business.
“When I first started Farm Share 10 years ago, there were 30, 40, 50 farmers in South Dade that were helping to grow food during the winter months for the whole United States.” said Shelley. “And we’re probably down to less than ten now.”
As of Thursday, the USDA is reopening about 2,100 county offices all across the country to help farmers and ranchers access $3 billion of aid from existing programs. The aid goes towards farm loans, crop insurance, disaster aid and other resources.
Meanwhile, many federal workers continue to attend free food distribution events at D.C. food banks as more than a million are set to miss their second paycheck on Friday.
