KALEVA — The Farmers to Families program is winding down, spelling an end to the weekly delivery of USDA food boxes for rural communities throughout Manistee and neighboring counties.
Kaleva VFW Post #6333 hosted one of the last of its bi-weekly food pantries Thursday, after six weeks of distributing food to those in need.
“We get people from Bear Lake, Onekama, Arcadia, Benzonia, Wellston, Irons. The need is out there,” said VFW member Richard Schafer, who along with post commander Sean Knudsen helped organize the food drive.
Schafer estimates the post delivers on average between 200 and 300 boxes of food, twice per week on Mondays and Thursday.
“I’m just glad that we’re able to help,” Schafer said. “The post is part of the community and this is something we can do to try and help. I just wish it would continue after May.”
The post also passes along some of the boxes it receives to other locations in the region, according to volunteer Liz Dufresne.
“We were putting out at peak almost 700 (boxes) a week, while we had people from Arcadia and Bear Lake, Mesick and Irons coming in to grab boxes to distribute in their area,” Dufresne said.
Through the Farmers to Families program, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) worked with national, regional and local distributors to purchase up to $6 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat products from American producers of all sizes.
Distributors then packaged the products into family-sized boxes, transported them to food banks, community and faith-based organizations and other non-profits in order to serve those in need.
In a statement, the USDA said the Farmers to Families program was meant to provide temporary, emergency relief to respond to severe market disruptions caused by the pandemic. The program also provided farmers about $16 billion in aid from the federal government.
USDA says the program, which has distributed more than 155 million boxes to those in need, will sunset at the end of May.
The program was created by the USDA in April 2020 using money from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and subsequent pandemic relief legislation. The USDA released five rounds of the program since its inception.
In a letter to stakeholders, the USDA said the program was due to end citing steady economic improvement in the past year, along with other progress made since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, other food assistance programs have been expanded by Congress, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and another supplemental program for women, infants and children (WIC).
Schafer believes there may also be political motivations at play with ending the Trump-era initiative.
“My personal opinion is, I think it is strictly about politics. The wrong name is on the program,” Schafer said.
While the program may be ending, research indicates that many families continue to struggle with food insecurity.
Feeding America, a hunger relief organization reports that 2.3 million households in rural communities face hunger, and that as of March, 9% of adults struggled to put food on the table according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Schafer said the post is interested in securing a new source for its food pantries after May, but that nothing had been planned thus far.
“Most of these food banks have just once a month. This is every week, so it helps a lot more people with a lot more fresh food,” Schafer said.
Schafer said the post will continue to host its weekly food pantries until the food runs out at the end of the month. The next will take place starting at 11 a.m. on May 17 at the post, located at 13300 Nine Mile Road in Kaleva.
Follow the Kaleva VFW Post #6333 page on Facebook for more information and updates.
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