Linda Lewis’ Dickerson farm, Lewis Orchards, helps dozens of Montgomery County residents facing food insecurity to receive fresh produce through funding she receives as part of the “Farm to Food Bank” program operated by Manna Food Center, a food bank based in Silver Spring.
But after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently cut more than $1 billion in food aid funding that would be distributed to organizations and nonprofits such as Manna, Lewis is concerned she won’t be able to provide produce to as many people in need.
“Farmers are the backbone. My job is to feed everybody,” Lewis said. “Without the funding, what are we going to do?”
Lewis and Manna leaders relayed their concerns about the impact of the aid cuts on food bank clients to U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Dist. 6) during a briefing Wednesday afternoon at Manna’s Gaithersburg distribution center. Manna serves more than 60,000 clients per year, according to its annual report.
“Food is a nonpartisan issue … everybody needs food to survive,” Manna Executive Director Craig Rice said. “I just never thought that we’d be in this place.”
USDA announced the cuts Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s mass restructuring of federal agencies through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. The more than $1 billion in cuts impact the Local Food for Schools program, which provides federal funding for states and localities to provide healthy foods from local farms to public schools, and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which provides federal funding for food banks to purchase food from local farmers, USA Today reported.
“We were all kind of blindsided,” Rice said of the cuts.
Manna’s Farm to Food Bank provides “fresh, locally and regionally grown produce, meat, and eggs to those experiencing hunger and food insecurity in our community by purchasing from neighboring farms throughout the growing season,” according to the nonprofit’s website. In fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30, Manna purchased and distributed 150,767 pounds of produce from local farms through the initiative.
Food insecurity rates in Montgomery County have skyrocketed over the past five years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the county saw about a 50% increase in food insecurity in its population, and that need has not dissipated, according to county officials. That increase was coupled by an estimated 50% increase in the number of organizations that were providing food assistance in the county In July 2024, several food pantry leaders who spoke to Bethesda Today expressed concerns that the need within the county is outpacing the financial support the organizations are receiving.
“Having the fresh produce really means a lot to the families that we serve. We have had great success [with the program],” Rice said of the Farm to Food Bank program.
Rice said the USDA cuts are an “an attack on food banks” and “an attack on the families we serve and our farmers.”
Helping those in need
Lewis’ farm is a part of the Farm to Food Bank partnership, and she said she enjoys being able to help provide food to community members in need. Lewis’ farm is also part of the Maryland Market Money program, which provides a dollar-for-dollar match for clients using benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the USDA’s food assistance program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to purchase food at farmers’ markets and local farms.
Even with these initiatives, Lewis still sees customers who struggle to make ends. She shared the story of a woman who arrived at her farm’s market with just $6 in SNAP benefits, upset because she couldn’t purchase enough food to feed her grandchildren. Lewis decided to donate a bag of food to her.
“I told her, ‘If you’ve gotten to this point again, let me know, and come in.’ And she did,” Lewis said. “She came in once more, and she cried, ‘Thank you. God bless you.’ But as a farmer, that’s my job. I don’t want to see any child go hungry.”
Lewis said she worries that some politicians are too focused on infighting and partisanship and less focused on the people they serve who are being affected by changes at the federal level — like farmers and the people who depend on their food.
“There’s this side, there’s that side, then there’s us in the middle,” Lewis said.
Rice shared similar frustrations, declaring that food insecurity should not be a partisan issue.
“No one benefits from people in our community going hungry,” Rice said.
McClain Delaney said she believes the stories of farmers like Lewis need to be amplified to convince her Republican colleagues of the impact of these cuts. She said she’s been reaching across the aisle, particularly with her work as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, to work on legislation to benefit farmers and people who face food insecurity. She said she’s talked to farmers across her congressional district who are scared there will not be a farm bill coming out of Congress in 2025.
“We should not have hungry children, we should not have hungry families, with the amount of wealth we have in this country,” McClain Delaney said.
She said she’s concerned the impact of cuts to food aid programs will be compounded by the ongoing mass layoffs of federal workers who may now need food assistance. More than 70,000 federal workers live in the county and the administration’s layoffs and firings have already impacted more than 1,000 residents, according to county officials.
McClain Delaney said federal funding cuts will force states and localities to build leaner budgets to make ends meet.
“There’s going to be a crimping,” she said. “I’m an optimist, but I’m also a realist, and I think you can’t solve problems without the facts.”
Rice expressed similar concerns, particularly given the Trump administration’s cuts Wednesday to the Department of Education. He said he’s worried that the increasing needs of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will require even more spending in the coming fiscal year than the roughly $3.6 billion recommended by the county school board – impacting what county funds are left to distribute to local nonprofits like Manna.
“We are that canary in the coal mine as to what lies ahead [with economic insecurity],” Rice said.
Growing demand
Rice said he anticipates seeing more laid-off federal workers needing food aid. In November 2024, there was a two-week waitlist to become a regular client receiving boxes of food from Manna. But that waitlist has seen a staggering uptick in registrations.
“If you signed up today, it would take six weeks for us to get you that box of food,” Rice said.
It’s unclear how Wednesday’s USDA funding cuts will impact Manna. Rice said he expects cuts of “north of $100,000” of what the nonprofit currently receives in federal funding. A final determination will depend on federal funding cuts to the Capital Area Food Bank, which distributes food to Manna and other nonprofits in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
McClain Delaney said she is focused on how she can support constituents in the short term. She said she’s talked to farmers, firefighters, police officers and members of the military, including some who voted for Trump, across her district. All are worried about the impact of federal changes on their families.
“So many people are scared … I can’t solve the global issues,” McClain Delaney said. “All I can do is represent Maryland’s 6th [District] and have the backs of the people here.”
