Back in 2023, the Food Bank of Wyoming received over half a million dollars of funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). The money helped buy food from small-scale Wyoming producers and distribute it to folks in need across the state.
But the agency recently announced that it’s sunsetting the program. No more funding will be available after the current two-year grant cycle ends in July this summer.
According to Food Bank of Wyoming Executive Director Jill Stillwagon, the grant money has gone toward purchasing and distributing about 200,000 pounds of food from Wyoming ranchers and growers since 2023. That includes beef, beans, grains, oats and produce like cucumbers, carrots, onions and peppers.
“ We were hoping we'd have the opportunity to apply for the next round, which would've started probably in August,” said Stillwagon. “But since we're no longer able to apply because the program has been terminated, we were definitely disappointed.”
At the end of 2024, the USDA announced that it would invest over a billion dollars into another round of funding for the LFPA program as well as Local Food for Schools programs.
But in a statement to the news outlet Politico, a USDA spokesperson confirmed that continued funding after the end of the current grant cycle “is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.”
Stillwagon said the termination of the grant comes at a time when the organization has seen an uptick in people experiencing food insecurity. The Evansville-based nonprofit got groceries to more than 55,000 people and distributed roughly 10 million meals this fiscal year. That’s a 25 percent increase from the number of meals distributed last year.
“ We're seeing the highest level of food insecurity that we've seen in the last ten years,” said Stillwagon. “We know that food insecurity is not decreasing here in Wyoming. It's only continuing to increase.”
According to Feeding America’s 2024 Map the Meal Gap study, one in seven adults and one in five children in Wyoming are food insecure.
Stillwagon said the grant’s termination also means a loss in revenue for the producers and growers that the Food Bank partnered with for the LFPA program.
“ Supporting local food programs isn't just about hunger relief, it's about keeping American farms strong and independent,” she said. “We’re encouraging people to purchase from a local producer or grower in their community, knowing that they still need people to purchase from them.”
Stillwagon said she’s hopeful that new programs will be created under the new administration that accomplish similar goals of addressing food insecurity and supporting local growers. But in the meantime, the Food Bank is talking with potential funders and community members to help fill in the gaps.
“ [This grant] has allowed us to do so many neat things and have an impact on not only growers and producers, but the people here in Wyoming,” said Stillwagon. “We're continuing to advocate for programs and advocate for Wyoming people that are facing hunger to help raise those dollars to continue our mission.”
Looking forward, the Food Bank hopes to add stops to its FRESH Express Route in Albany, Carbon and Goshen Counties. That expansion will bring the program to every county in Wyoming, which delivers fresh produce throughout the state. The organization just delivered its millionth pound of produce using the route this month after launching in 2023.
