REAP Food Group calls the termination of the Local Food For Schools and Child Care program a “major blow” to Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting two programs that provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy directly from local farms. That includes about $660 million this year for the Local Food for Schools program.

Allison Pfaff Harris, Farm to School Director for REAP Food Group in Madison, says the termination is effective May 6.

“The termination of the Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) program is a major blow to not only schools and farms around Wisconsin, but schools and farms throughout the country,” she says. “Throughout my career, folks have asked me ‘How do we move local foods into schools?’. To me, it’s never been an issue of abundance or lack of interest by schools and farmers but a funding issue.”