Local food banks on track to receive 2 million fewer meals

The Department of Agriculture has cancelled half of all food shipments sent through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) through the end of 2025.

In the Hudson Valley, 170,000 residents depend on area food banks. But due to these cuts, Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties alone are on track to receive 2 million fewer meals in 2025.

“Numerous shipments have already been cancelled,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. “If this funding is not restored, we’ll have 6 million fewer meals to provide families than we did last year, including 2 million of those meals in the Hudson Valley alone.”

In 2025, because of these USDA cuts, the food bank predicts a 49-percent drop in TEFAP foods, leaving them able to provide only 25 meals per food insecure resident to last year’s 48 meals. Overall, this will constitute 2 million fewer meals provided in 2025 than in 2024. Additionally, the food loads being cut include most of the food bank’s nutritious stock, including proteins like meats and cheeses, milk, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.

Congressman Ryan is calling on Trump’s Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to immediately reverse this decision and restore the flow of funds to Hudson Valley food banks.

“I had to read this 5 times before I believed it. We’re all already feeling the crunch of the affordability crisis, which is made immeasurably worse by Trump’s tariffs. Now he’s ripping food away from hungry children – it’s absolutely disgusting,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “170,000 of our neighbors rely on the food bank every month. That’s families going hungry. That’s kids, veterans, and seniors going hungry. That’s farmers going out of business. We need our entire Hudson Valley community to join together with one voice and demand that Trump and Secretary Rollins reverse this decision and restore critical funding immediately.”

---

Advertisement:

---

---

---

---

---