Cuts by Trump Administration hurting local food banks

(WHTM) — It is dire times at food banks, including a huge one in the Midstate.

We got an earful Friday from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. They provide meals to more than 250,000 across the Commonwealth.

“Our food bank, like most food banks, are actually serving more people right now in 2025 than we were in the height of the pandemic,” CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Joe Arthur said.

Which is why they’re hungry for federal funding, cut by the Trump administration.

“The American people are very supportive, we’re saving, them billions of dollars and are just getting started,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

“The reality is it’s probably not feasible to make up all of the difference for for those cuts,” Arthur said.

Which is why the food bank is worried. Its local food purchasing assistance program is taking a hit, missing out on $120,000 every month.

“That is about 250,000 pounds of locally sourced food that we won’t have access to,” Arthur said.

Things grown and produced in Pennsylvania.

“For some of the farmers we work with. It’s about 10% of their revenue,” Arthur said. “So not only are the people that rely on the food bank impacted, there’s not as much of the really good food, but our local farmers, small medium farmers, that could be the difference of them making a profit or not.”

Some USDA truckloads also canceled. The food bank says anyone who needs help can still get it, but…

“You might not be able to get milk this time or you might not be able to get eggs, you might not be able to get as much meat this time,” Arthur said.

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How long these cuts will last is unclear, but Arthur tells me it could be up to 15 months, because that’s how long funding from the local food purchasing assistance program, was supposed to last.


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