Economic Report Highlights Effects of Trump Administration's Budgetary Adjustments
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Y'ALL, LET'S DIVE IN:
Each quarter, regional banks from the Federal Reserve system have a good ol' gossip sesh, catchin' up on their local economies. They call it the Beige Book - ain't that quirky? Our pals over at The Indicator recently chatted with the Kansas City Fed and got some juicy insights from their latest report. As it turns out, they've been grappling with outcomes from the Trump administration's government spending freezes and budget cuts.
ROBERT SMITH: Here's an interesting bit: Funding cuts from the USDA had a major impact on services for the elderly. A local food pantry reported cutting down the amount of food they deliver from three to five days of shelf-stable grub to a measly two days every month. That's a pretty harsh blow, don't you think? So, tell me, what's the story behind this drop?
STEVEN HOWLAND: Well, the USDA trimmed their budget by about half a billion dollars, which substantially impacted the amount of grub food banks could provide to their pantries. That means less food for the people who need it the most.
WAILIN WONG: The Trump administration chopped a cool billion from USDA programs that provided fresh food for school lunches and food banks. They claimed the Biden-era food assistance was unmanageable.
SMITH: We wanted to hear more about the region's food banks' strategies to cope, so we reached out to one that supplies food for 27 counties in Missouri and Kansas.
STEPHEN DAVIS: Hi, I'm Stephen Davis, the CEO and big cheese at Harvesters - The Community Food Network.
SMITH: Listen, food banks are always hungry for more grub. You never call 'em up, and they say they've got enough in the pantry! But ol' Stephen Davis says this year's a real rough one.
DAVIS: Food prices are through the roof! Health bills, rent, and mortgages - your dollar doesn't stretch as far. And people have to cut back on their food expenses.
WONG: Stephen shared that they scrounge up food from various sources, like community donations, deals with manufacturers, and even rejected goods. But the USDA budget cuts bit hard, because that cash could've been spent on staple foods, like dairy and grains, which typically don't get donated.
SMITH: He reckons these cuts will mean a loss of around 2.4 million pounds of food.
DAVIS: Ponder that - 2.4 million pounds of food. We distributed a whopping 61 million pounds last year. That's a chunky portion of food that's gone missing!
WONG: And if you've been keepin' up, that means tightening belts and serving fewer families with less food.
SMITH: Harvesters is back to their donors and volunteers, hustling extra food from manufacturers. But Stephen ain't too sure about the future if the money doesn't come back.
WONG: Or if the economy takes another downturn. Remember, things seem scary right now, but the unemployment rate in the U.S. is still relatively low. Who knows what the next Beige Book will bring?
Wailin Wong.
SMITH: Robert Smith, NPR News.
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This transcript is unofficial. For the official record, please refer to the NPR audio version.
PS: Trump administration's USDA budget cuts resulted in job losses and a decrease in food supplies for food banks, exacerbating existing food insecurity issues and impacting community initiatives aimed at addressing the issue. Budget cuts affected programs like the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and led to fewer groceries being distributed to low-income families. In response, local initiatives, like food drives, emerged in an attempt to offset the loss of food supplies.
- The regional banks from the Federal Reserve system discuss the impact of government spending freezes and budget cuts, particularly those from the Trump administration's USDA, on local economies, a topic known as the Beige Book.
- The Trump administration's policy-and-legislation, specifically the budget cuts, have reduced the amount of food provided to food banks, affecting the elderly and low-income families, resulting in increased food insecurity within the community.
- The recent budget cuts from the USDA have had a significant impact on the finance of food banks, impacting their ability to provide essential staple foods like dairy and grains.
- The food bank, Harvesters - The Community Food Network, is currently grappling with the consequences of these budget cuts, including a potential loss of 2.4 million pounds of food, which could lead to serving fewer families with less food in the future, exacerbating existing issues of food insecurity within the general-news sphere.
