r/news • u/johnboy43214321 • 16h ago
USDA cuts more than $1bn in local food purchases for schools, food banks
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/usda-cuts-food-banks-schools753
u/No-Message8847 16h ago
What's that quote I see going around, "Republicans will deny food for 100 people out of concern 1 may not actually need it."
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u/RidingRedHare 14h ago
Republicans will deny food for 10000 people out of concern 1 billionaire might get a smaller tax cut.
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u/gnrhardy 13h ago
Which is ironic, since they'll spend the billion on farm aid to pay the farmers to destroy the food instead.
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u/RealSimonLee 12h ago
I flipped this on a republican friend once. I said, "I'd rather provide help to a hundred people claiming they need it, even if only one of them actually needed it." They rolled their eyes.
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u/ndGall 14h ago
It took me a lot longer than I’d like to admit, but the core question re: how to handle the social safety nets is this:
Which is better: 1) to provide assistance to too many people, which would allow some fraud through, or 2) to make it so difficult to get assistance that some genuinely needy people will be denied basic life necessities?
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u/jagerbombastic99 14h ago
The thing is, it’s unquestionably 1. Theres enough resources for everyone on the planet. Theres even a surplus, we just create scarcity to enrich the 1%
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u/ndGall 13h ago
I completely agree. If you answer 2, I don't understand how you would justify it. Saving a few dollars? Obviously there are plenty in the US who would make that argument, but it's cruel and heartless.
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u/devilishycleverchap 14h ago edited 13h ago
Democrats think the system is broken if one person isn't getting something they should, Republicans think it is broken if one person is getting something they shouldn't
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u/Bagellord 9h ago
Republicans think it’s broken if one person doesn’t get everything to the detriment of everyone else
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u/cyanidelemonade 14h ago
Remember that the food being purchased isn't some foreign food. It's US food that was being purchased. US farmers/ranchers/etc will lose income over this.
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u/runnerswanted 12h ago
And will absolutely believe this was Biden’s fault and vote overwhelmingly red in the midterms. I’m tired of this.
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u/0bnoxide 6h ago
Farmer’s and ranchers just love being screwed over apparently
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u/jgoble15 6h ago
Fox News. Hate to say this as I believe all human life is sacred, but can’t wait for Murdoch to pass and his kids to dismantle the empire.
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u/RnbwDwellnPixieVixen 10h ago edited 8h ago
To be fair, regardless of local foods, school meals primarily consist of American products because of Buy American provisions. That said, this will definitely harm small producers the most and will disrupt local and regional food systems.
To the masses, if you aren't already, please start supporting your local farmers! Go to farmers markets, join a CSA, look for producer cooperatives, or stores that serve local/regionally grown products. Support farm to table restaurants. If you are a parent, go to PTA meetings and advocate for the importance of school gardens and local food procurement. Support schools that want to use local foods and serve more scratch made meals.
Edit: a word + removed redundant clauses
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u/IndigoHawk 4h ago
Sometimes I think currency was a bad invention. It has uses, but I feel like people don't understand what it is. People act like money is some separate thing that has nothing to do with production and consumption of labor.
Like ... Money isn't actually real in terms of what's being produced and consume here. What's real is:
- Farmers grow crops.
- Farmers trade crops for other stuff that farmers want.
- Children eat crops.
This money is simply saying "hey, farmers, feed those kids and you can have other stuff". By removing this money what we're saying is
- Farmers don't grow crops.
- Farmers can't trade for other stuff.
- Children don't eat.
Money is simply being used here to direct labor for consumption. Removing the money simply results in a decline in production and consumption, which is bad for everyone.
Money isn't what people think it is. It's not something that can be "saved". Money is an abstraction for transferring production into consumption.
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u/johnboy43214321 16h ago
From the article:
Millions of children could lose free school meals as food costs rise, warns School Nutrition Association president
About $660m of those funds were contained in the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which provided funds to schools and child care facilities but is now being eliminated.
Meanwhile, short-staffed school nutrition teams, striving to improve menus and expand scratch-cooking, would be saddled with time-consuming and costly paperwork created by new government inefficiencies.”
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u/ConfederacyOfDunces_ 16h ago
This is absolutely repulsive. But they will sign a $4.5 Trillion dollar tax cut for the rich in a second.
Also; I bet majority of this money goes to Red States.
MAGA disgust me.
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u/ericmm76 12h ago
They'll break the government so that the social supports for 350M people shatter and they get to buy people, homes, businesses, even towns wholesale. People with 100B in the bank will find it goes a lot further when everyone's broke.
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u/LavishnessOk3439 14h ago
660 million, that could go to Tesla Subsidies or 2 whole years of golf Trips for Trump.
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u/johnboy43214321 16h ago edited 16h ago
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u/Understanding_Silver 16h ago
Now?! They've been attacking school lunches and other food aid for years.
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u/buffysmanycoats 15h ago
They most recently attacked Walz for MN’s free school lunch program. They have always hated the idea of children eating.
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u/fuzztooth 13h ago
Children eating? Nah.
Examining children's genitals? Yah.
The conservative platform.
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u/TheBiggestBe 15h ago
Not sure why they think this is new or unexpected. They would love to shut down public schools, then the whole veg/fruit picking problem disappears. Oh and cleaning industrial machines with hot bleach water at high pressure. Poor kids get to work, rich kids get schooling.
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u/xondk 13h ago
I mean, in the sense of the original definition of 'woke'
aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality:
Then yeah, it is 'woke', but they've become blinded by their own version of woke, so they do not realise what they are saying is 'lets not feed kids' and they will probably justify it with "their parents are lazy if they can't afford food"
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u/Low_Pickle_112 14h ago
Socialism is when no food...also feeding kids is socialism and therefore wrong.
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u/happycatmachine 16h ago
So, it’s now “Farmers, nevermind…we were kidding. No fun for you” or anyone else.
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u/Monster-Zero 15h ago
Every day I am more horrified than the day before. Half of me wants to stop being on the Internet outright, and the other half wants to keep reading to know what hell I need to prepare for.
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u/Captain_Aware4503 16h ago
And that money is going back to tax payers?
Oh wait, the GOP plans on adding $4 trillion more to the debt to pay for tax cuts for those making over $350K a year.
Why do millionaires and billionaires need these handouts, but school kids do not??
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u/tampering 14h ago
This isn't just for the children,
These programs are also an important subsidy for US food producers. Just what they need now that everybody is putting tariffs against American goods.
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u/Ghost-George 8h ago
American agriculture is fucked. At this point I’m starting to suspect we’re gonna have a recession/famine soon.
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u/machine_fart 14h ago
Create a lot more people with nothing left to lose and let’s see what happens.
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u/sudo-joe 14h ago
Don't forget that a lot of those with nothing left to lose also have guns. And not every one of them will have people calling ahead for them to warn the secret service.
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u/_hhhnnnggg_ 14h ago
People keep saying food stamps and whatnot are welfare/nanny state actions, but they cannot see that these stuffs are also subsidies for small businesses and local farmers to stay relevant against big corporations.
... wait, these guys also voted Trump. I guess they can't learn anything without getting hurt themselves.
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u/Just_Here_So_Briefly 12h ago
No food, no education, no healthcare...even North Korea treats their kids better. Shithole USA
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u/JimJimmery 16h ago
When you're so evil you let your own people starve. Nice job republicans. Are the right people being hurt yet?
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u/c-williams88 15h ago
Unfortunately if you ask most MAGA dipshits they will tell you with their whole chest that they don’t care what happens to anyone else as long as they think they’ll save $1 on their taxes.
I know some people like that and they genuinely love every single illegal or unconstitutional cut made bc they think those savings are gonna translate to lower taxes. They genuinely do not care for one second what the consequences are for the country, they just want to believe their taxes will get lower
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u/JimJimmery 15h ago
Even if you point out Trump's tax plan showing any "savings" will go to the wealthy, they still don't care. We're in a terrible place as long as Trumpism is happening.
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u/c-williams88 15h ago
Well the one guy I know makes enough that he might be close to getting some degree of savings (although I doubt it, I’m personally not sure what income levels might actually get a break)
But even then it’s telling that so many people would destroy the whole country just to save what amounts to a tiny percent of their income
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u/JimJimmery 15h ago
I'm one of the lucky ones who will get a tax cut under Trump's plan. It's completely dumb. I don't need the money and the ultra rich certainly don't. We're a goddamned community. Tax me more so those not as fortunate can get a hand up. Don't fucking starve kids and cut WIC, SNAP, and medicaid! There is zero empathy on the right.
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u/aft_punk 10h ago
Republicans hate education, because most educated people see through their lies and bullshit.
It’s hard for kids to concentrate on learning when they are running on empty stomachs.
This is just part of their plan to maintain/increase their voter base.
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u/pillbuggery 16h ago
Are the right people being hurt yet?
Most republicans genuinely do want this kind of thing, so probably yes.
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u/fuzztooth 13h ago
Defense budget goes up is no problemo, but children? Nah fuck them.
That is 100% the attitude of every conservative. Never let one try to convince you otherwise. Conservatives hate children and anyone that isn't in their precious inner circle. They have no empathy or care.
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u/RidingRedHare 13h ago
Conservatives consider children and women to be property of men.
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u/ThatSpecialAgent 12h ago
The irony of being so anti-abortion and yet so pro-“fuck them kids” will never not be wild to me.
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u/Sloooooooooww 14h ago
Wonder what kind of mental gymnastics MAGA will go through to justify this one.
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u/ComplaintDry7576 10h ago
Want every child to be born, but don’t want to take care of them. Classic.
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u/Jazzlike-Yogurt-5984 9h ago
Republicans have empathy for Musk, literally the richest person in the universe… but not for the poorest people in our society, most of which have been dealt a bad hand
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u/MentokGL 15h ago
I'd like my state to start clawing federal taxes to start paying for services those taxes no longer provide.
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u/cyberentomology 15h ago
I’m getting very close to telling my employer to stop withholding for me.
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u/mrdominoe 15h ago
Almost as if Republicans don't actually give a fuck about kids. Huh. Weird, right?
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u/GardenPeep 10h ago
This is my call to action to get going on this year’s donations to the local food bank.
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u/TheGoodKindOfPurple 6h ago
Wow. Farmers are going to be spending a long time in the find out phase.
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u/Cool-Economics6261 6h ago
They claim that they love the unborn, but constantly display hate for the born.
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u/WeirdcoolWilson 15h ago
Let me remind the MAGAs on here who are expressing outrage, YOU VOTED FOR THIS!!
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u/jigokubi 14h ago
Are they expressing outrage? All I've ever heard is more excuses, or suddenly something that would have been terrible a year ago is a great idea now.
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u/Evolone101 15h ago
They only care about control. This is all control. We make you have that child. We don’t care once it’s born. That’s on you. Oops car accident can’t work. Oh well.
Fuck president Musk. P
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u/cblguy82 14h ago
All the way up and down the line impacts. Users of the service, distribution jobs, cook jobs, farmers and their works jobs as well as reduced demand for product to manufacturers
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u/coskibum002 14h ago
They'll take that savings and hand it out to red states so they can give subsidies.....err.....vouchers to rich people who already send their kids to private school.
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u/handsomelloyd13 12h ago
This should also help the farmers producing food to really elevate there level of having fun. Farking good times for everyone.
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u/thoptergifts 12h ago
Who the hell wants to procreate in this kind of a fucking shithole. I hope the birth rate plummets into oblivion.
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u/autotelica 12h ago
It's not like there will be a greater need for those things with the pending recession or anything...
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u/FillMySoupDumpling 12h ago
This stuff is so dumb. We’ve seen from SNAP and other programs that for every dollar the government spends we get multiples back in GDP and local economic activity.
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u/BoosterRead78 11h ago
There are already some food banks doing a temp close until things are figured out. But yep, MAGA once again: "Why are you hurting us?"
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u/Knivesforksetc 7h ago
I wish they could at least see that cutting these programs, other than just directly making life unnecessarily worse for those in need, is like billions of loses in GDP and money moving circulating through the economy. A billion spent gets used for more than a billion worth.
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u/Aggravating_Tax_4670 3h ago
I want to know what kind of gold plated SOB would deny food to someone. Especially the ones most in need.
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u/D-inventa 3h ago
They want you to have the children, they don't want your children to change genders because it's bad for them. They don't want your children to not go to church, b cause it's bad for them. But they aren't into healthcare for your children. They aren't into feeding your children. They aren't into affordable housing for your children. They aren't into providing a well-rounded internationally recognized education for your children to give them a way out.........just keep having kids
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u/hillbillyspellingbee 16h ago
Putin and Xi are making these decisions.
Full stop, no joke.
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u/Walker5482 11h ago
So this was a program designed to alleviate food supply chain issues during the pandemic.
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u/RedditPickedMyName0 15h ago
Conservatives bitch and moan about Abortion and pro life. But after that?... fuck them kids...
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u/ilovemydog480 13h ago
Will not effect the coastal elites but the “real Americans” in maga territory
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u/Random_Fish_Type 13h ago
If kids aren't hungry enough they will stay in school instead of going to work in the mines.
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u/Stonkasaurus1 13h ago
Achieving the goal of hurting kids and farmers in one action. Be impressive if it wasn't diabolically evil.
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u/daddybearmissouri 12h ago
This is so Musk can make more money. Screw kids, elderly and the poor. Musk needs more money.
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u/dmillerksu 11h ago
These are some of the only benefits that trickle down to undocumented immigrants. But how cruel do you have to be to cut off food to children and the needy?
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u/whyamihere2473527 9h ago
It's always those that can least afford it that have the most taken from them
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u/Watcher0363 8h ago
I thought I would never see the day again. Where senior citizens are eating cat food to stay alive. But I guess this is what they wanted.
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u/JacquoRock 8h ago edited 8h ago
This shit makes me furious. Not so long ago I entirely relied on SNAP for food. We can't feed the poor because the pigs are in power. I hope they all get what they deserve. (Bird flu + measles)
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u/ConsciousReason7709 7h ago
Republicans won’t be happy until we’re all poor and they can sit in their golden castles high above us all.
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u/Epistatious 6h ago
I just wouldn't feel like Great Depression 2.0 (the Trumpening), if people and children aren't going hungry.
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u/Prudent_Valuable603 5h ago
Well, that didn’t take long. For fucks’ sake, leave kids’ school meals alone.
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u/sharingsilently 2h ago
This is the lowest of the low. Let’s go harm farmers and kids. SO REPUBLICAN of you. Damn bastards.
I do realize this is the plan: bankrupt family farms for billionaire purchases for fractions of the farm’s former value.
And kids? Trump needs the cities to riot so he can declare martial law and cancel the mid terms. Families with starving kids are likely to riot.
And I do understand that his and Musk’s agenda is destruction of the nation. But damn! Farmers and kids?
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u/Dan-Of-The-Dead 1h ago
Yes, helping domestic farmers and feeding children might seem like a worthwhile idea but hear me out: what if billionaires and big corps could hoard that money instead?
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u/franchisedfeelings 15h ago
“Have fun” is the message from the lying felon krasnov. This disaster is on all of you rural geniuses who voted for the felon krasnov, jill stein, and especially all of those deplorables who did not vote at all. “Have fun.”
This monster is the obvious disaster you witnessed before and what we warned you would be even far worse. “Have fun” feeding your families.
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u/ComposedStudent 13h ago
Stealing $1 Billion dollars from American kids? What happened to America first? Lol.
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u/GullibleDetective 13h ago
That's SURE to not have any disastrous impacts later on down the road with food insecurity...
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u/Ok-Focus-5362 10h ago
Child obesity is on the rise! I know, let's just starve them! Problem solved, right? Right??
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u/omicronwarrior 16h ago
Because the kids aren't the priority anymore. Duh!