Part of a complete audit of how the Federal Government spends the fruits of your labors includes programs at the USDA that the Handmaiden media are breathlessly reporting as canceled. Everyone from Politico to CNN to NHPR (now GraniteGrok) is printing stories about local food banks and pantries tightening their belts. Okay, so The ‘Grok isn’t precisely doing that. We’re printing a story about the story behind the story.
The USDA confirmed to Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 meal programs, that the agency is reviewing the funding, said Vince Hall, chief government relations officer at the nonprofit.
“It is our hope that that the review will conclude with a decision to continue investing CCC (Commodity Credit Corporation) dollars in food purchases,” Hall said, noting that food banks from coast to coast are in danger of not having enough items to meet the need. The problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where food banks rely even more on government-supplied groceries.
The $500 million in funding came from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, which at times provides additional resources to purchase food from American farmers and ranchers and send it to emergency food providers. The pause comes soon after the agency announced it is ending two Covid-19 era programs that provided money for food banks and schools to purchase food from local and regional farmers and ranchers, halting some $1 billion in funding.
Asked for comment on the pause, the USDA said that the Biden administration created “unsustainable programming and expectations using the Commodity Credit Corporation.”
If the food bank program was becoming a massive federal entitlement—or, perhaps, an even more massive welfare program—then a full review is justified. It is not the Federal Government’s job to fill the shelves of local food banks. This is better handled by local, state, or regional non-profits, co-ops, and through donations or – if necessary – support from local or county municipalities. Relying on the USDA is asking for trouble, the same way aid to foreign countries more often than not never gets to people in actual need.
The NHPR headline reads, “Food pantries across NH brace for shortfalls after federal budget cuts.” That’s a nice title, but if you read the article underneath, it’s not that gloomy because there appears to be a lot of local support, including local grocery stores.
It should all be that way. Locals and local businesses should donate food, cash, or time. This keeps the solution closer to the problem, allowing the donors to audit the foodbank and the foodbank to feel responsible to the community it claims to serve. It also frees up each operation to respond to the interests of its supporters, and cuts federal strings that may add costs or obligations that have nothing to do with feeding poor people.
Keeping it local can also help alleviate “the problem.”
More people are going to the food bank because the federal government is printing money to fund bloated programs. This fiat economy increases inflation, which makes things increasingly unaffordable, including operating food banks even when you keep it local. The extra COVID-era funding is part of what created the increased need and rising living costs, and until we stop doing that across the board, that problem gets worse, not better.
So, we can keep writing articles about how federal dependency creates local jeopardy, or someone could write a few words encouraging locals to contact their local food bank to ask how they can help – and then do that. Breaking the cycle of dependency starts by getting off the federal dole.
After all, these are your neighbors. If they are genuinely in need, lift them up until they can “walk on their own.” If not, everyone (or at least someone) will know, which can keep everyone honest.
