Federal cuts slash food for San Diegans in need, threaten small farmers
Federal funding cuts to food assistance programs, including SNAP and LFPA, could leave 400,000 families in San Diego County and local farmers who rely on these programs in the red, and advocates are urging San Diegans to contact their representatives to express their concerns.
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Representative Scott Peters hosted a news conference Monday alongside a local farmer and school officials to raise the alarm on federal funding cuts to food assistance programs that could impact the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and others.
“These cuts don’t stop with the USDA,” Rep. Peters said. He said more cuts are looming that will continue to impact everyone facing food insecurity, including the 400,000 families who rely on food assistance in San Diego County.
“In March, the Trump Administration froze over a billion dollars in Congressionally approved funding for USDA programs that purchases foods from local growers that are served in schools and food banks. The administration also canceled 500 million dollars for the emergency food assistance program,” said Rep. Peters.
Local farmers who rely on LFPA could really feel the brunt of cuts.
“It’s a reality, it’s a very, very excruciating reality,” said Ramona farmer, Byron Nkhoma of Hukama Produce.
For eight years, Nkhoma said he was in the red until federal assistance helped him invest in and grow his business, which now helps serve nutritious leafy greens and vegetables to families facing food insecurity in the county.
“My biggest concern is to think about going back into those red margins. It is a terrible thought,” he said.
Advocates say they’re already seeing an increase in demand. Feeding San Diego said in January about 149,000 households were in need of its network’s assistance. Last month, the number of households reached 158,000. They’re asking San Diegans to take a stand in the fight and reach out to local, state and federal representatives to share their concerns.
“Whether it’s SNAP, Cal Fresh, the school meals,” said Bob Kamensky, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “Those organizations that are dependent on that to get into the food distribution, they are no longer going to have it available. So where will people go? They’ll go to the next available source, which would be our agency network, which will further saturate what is already a saturated network.”
