🍎USDA kills $660 million farm-to-school program in Child Nutrition Act violation

School breakfast and lunch programs that feed 30 million low-income children daily face elimination when federal support disappears. Children cannot learn effectively when hungry, creating educational achievement gaps that perpetuate poverty across generations while increasing healthcare costs for families who cannot afford adequate nutrition.

Federal nutrition funding represents significant portions of school district budgets that support not just food service but also equipment, staff, and facility maintenance. Sudden elimination forces districts to cut educational programs, raise local taxes, or charge families for meals they previously received free, creating financial hardship for working families.

School nutrition programs provide balanced meals that many children cannot access at home due to family work schedules, food deserts, or economic constraints. Eliminating these programs increases reliance on processed foods, fast food, and skip meals entirely, creating health problems that burden families and healthcare systems for decades.

School meal programs purchase millions of dollars in local agricultural products, supporting farm families and rural economies. Federal funding cuts eliminate this reliable market for fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, devastating agricultural communities while increasing food waste when smaller retail markets cannot absorb surplus production.