LFPA Funding Changes and its Impact on the South Texas Food Bank
- STFB website
- Mar 24
- 3 min read
Webb County, TX (March 25, 2025) – Regarding the USDA’s decision to cancel the third round of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) funding, The South Texas Food Bank stands with Feeding Texas’s official position.
Our understanding is that the funding was pulled from LFPA due to a shift in priorities of the Administration. While we wait to learn more about this shift and its potential long-term effects, we’ve seen fast action from USDA in order to respond to the immediate threat of avian flu and its impact on the food supply chain. To our knowledge, the decision had nothing to do with the program itself. There has always been strong bipartisan support for LFPA among states and farmers and we look forward to working with the White House and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to strengthen the connection between local agriculture and food security.
Importance of LFPA
The LFPA program has allowed Texas food banks to purchase products they would not normally be able to afford and has expanded economic opportunities for local farmers and producers in regions across the state. The program has been a win-win-win for local producers, food banks, and our food insecure neighbors who take home high quality, nutritious food grown in their own communities.
Impact
Though potential funding and our ability to purchase food is impacted by this decision, The South Texas Food Bank remains committed to working with local producers to strengthen local food systems and provide healthy food for the communities we serve.
At the time of USDA’s decision, we did not have a confirmed allocation for a third round of funding since the grant was a competitive procurement. However, our food bank successfully participated in the first two rounds, and we were hopeful to receive additional funding to support this work.
In addition to strengthening food security, this program was critical to supporting other hunger partners like local farmers, growers and ranchers in our region. The significant loss of revenue could potentially negatively impact their operations.
The South Texas Food Bank, along with Feeding Texas, is committed to working with Congress, the White House and Secretary Rollins on their priorities for supporting local food systems and feeding families.
The South Texas Food Bank will keep the community informed on any updates regarding LFPA via its website – southtexasfoodbank.org - as information becomes available.
About South Texas Food Bank
The South Texas Food Bank is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger in in South Texas by collecting and distributing food through partner agencies and programs while creating awareness and educating the community on the realities of hunger throughout our eight-county service area: Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Maverick, Dimmit, Val Verde, Kinney and Starr counties.
In the fiscal year 2023-2024, The South Texas Food Bank distributed 21 million pounds of food and assisted 1.5 million food insecure individuals throughout our service area.
We encourage any person or family that is currently dealing with food insecurity and resides within our service area to contact or visit the South Texas Food Bank office, located at 2121 Jefferson St. in Laredo, TX or one of our food agency members. For more information, visit southtexasfoodbank.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The South Texas Food Bank is a proud member of Feeding America, Feeding Texas and the United Way of Laredo.
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