Cutting the program \u201churts everyone, from our local food banks who are losing sources of high-quality food, to our local farmers who are losing reliable buyers at a time when business is tough,\u201d Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat who represents California\u2019s 4th Congressional District, said in a statement. \u201cThe minute these cuts were made, I heard concerns from food banks across our district.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a shock for small-scale producers like Alex Kuhn, farm manager at New Family Farm in Sebastopol, who said the contracts with food banks provided farmers with a steady revenue stream.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a safety net on both ends,\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cGrowers could be scared to try something, like grow a new kind of cucumber, but we would say \u2018try this and we will do our best to sell it.\u2019 If it didn\u2019t, it could go to the food bank. It mitigated risk. It allowed every year to be a good year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farmers launched a lobbying campaign through several organizations asking legislators to step in with state funds to resuscitate the program.<\/p>\n
This week, those farmers received welcome news \u2013 the state legislative budget approved June 15<\/a> contains one-third of the requested $45 million, to continue funding contracts between food banks and small farms. The budget bill is on Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s desk for negotiations, according to Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a nonprofit policy advocacy group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kuhn and other small-scale farmers told The Press Democrat they benefited from partnering with Sonoma County\u2019s FEED Cooperative<\/a>, a food hub network of more than 50 farms, which used about $1 million each year from the federal government to purchase their produce for the local food bank under California\u2019s Farms Together<\/a>. He and other wholesale farmers typically do most of their business through working with distributors like FEED \u2013 which accounts for about 80% of New Family Farm\u2019s business \u2013 and with grocery stores and restaurants.<\/p>\n Farms Together contracts made it simple to move \u201clarge volumes of product\u201d when there are few other available outlets to do so, Kuhn said, and ensuring that most of the fruits and vegetables produced did not go to waste.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gave us the ability to sell an entire pallet of kale or cucumbers and make sure that food is actually going to be used,\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cNow, we find ourselves harvesting sometimes at a loss. It (the program) really acted as a safety buffer.\u201d<\/p>\n According to FEED Cooperative, the federal government acquiesced to swift pushback last year and let the contracts last through the end of 2025, which Kuhn said helped farmers prepare. But since the start of 2026, producers have seen a loss of up to 20% of their revenue without those contracts in place, according to FEED\u2019s wholesale manager Dylan Stein.<\/p>\n Stein said when he first learned of the contract opportunity in 2024, \u201cIt sounded too good to be true,\u201d because it opened a new pathway \u201cfor a food bank to pay people fairly for food.\u201d The annual $1 million allocation made a huge difference for small-scale producers, he said.<\/p>\n Stein had hoped the program could go on for at least three years. The federal government since 2023 spent nearly $60 million engaging more than 830 farmers, 45 food hubs and small local aggregators and 50 food banks and community organizations across the country. More than 70% of participating farmers were defined by USDA as small, mid-scale or socially disadvantaged.<\/p>\n Rachelle Mesheau, director of marketing and communications for Redwood Empire Food Bank, said the program was relatively new but \u201cdemonstrated real promise and impact.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, during last year\u2019s flood threats, LFPA funding allowed us to quickly purchase produce from local farmers who were at risk of losing their crops, helping salvage that food and distribute it to the community within days,\u201d Mesheau said. \u201cIt was a powerful example of how this kind of program can simultaneously support farmers and expand access to fresh, local food.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Stein said the lobbying effort which has been underway since January garnered so much support, with hundreds of farmers and food hubs from across the state advocating for state support for the program in Sacramento. He praised Assemblymember Damon Connolly<\/a>, a Democrat who represents Marin and southern Sonoma counties, for his local support.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen firsthand how important this program is through local tours and discussions with farmers in the district,\u201d Connolly said in a statement. \u201cAt a time when Californians up and down the state are facing food insecurity and reduced CalFresh benefits, I am pleased to have protected LFPA funding in the state budget.\u201d<\/p>\n After 12 years working with small wholesale producers, Stein said \u201cIt so often feels like, for the farms we work with, the deck is stacked against them.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the federal program was \u201ca significant market improvement\u201d: \u201cIt injected that necessary demand into the system to allow people to seek everything they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Stein said the funding rescission took place against a backdrop of cuts which the federal government began in 2025<\/a> and are taking place this year<\/a> under the sweeping federal tax-and-spending package dubbed \u201cThe One Big Beautiful Bill Act.\u201d Farmers said they were confused and frustrated to see cuts taking place given the Trump administration\u2019s avowed focus<\/a> on healthier foods for families under the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d banner.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHearing them (federal officials) say something and watching them implement it are two very different things,\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy for them to say they want to make people healthier \u2026 but that results in sending produce that\u2019s from big agriculture, that is not the most nutritious and comes from really far away and has a really big carbon footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor must sign the 2026-27 budget by June 30, and farmers and advocates say they\u2019re hopeful, given Newsom\u2019s appeal of the federal decision last year.<\/a> The governor this year already allocated other funds<\/a> to help food-insecure families using California\u2019s SNAP program<\/a> to purchase local produce.<\/p>\n If approved, the state\u2019s annual allocation for Sonoma County may only total up to $300,000 annually, Stein said.<\/p>\n Kuhn said he had hoped that if the state could fully fund the old program, it would help farms like his have a secure revenue source \u201cat a margin that would bring us some amount of profit.\u201d He said it is hard to know at this stage how the funds, if approved, will be allocated, since it\u2019s unclear how the state program will be structured.<\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TPD-L-FARMTRLSCUT-061926-04.jpg\")
Alex Kuhn, the farm manager at New Family Farm in Sebastopol, wraps a pallet of kale for delivery on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Kent Porter \/ The Press Democrat)<\/p>\n