KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has canceled $500 million of funding for food banks nationwide.  Those cuts have impacted Harvesters, the Kansas City metro food bank serving over 900 nonprofits, including shelters, food pantries and community kitchens in Kansas and Missouri .  Jackson County taxpayers should see no more than 15% assessment increase: judge Last week, Harvesters learned that vital food deliveries going to both Kansas and Missouri had been called off.  “In our case, the loads we were notified were canceled;  we were planning to get over the next couple of months, and that was about 41,000 cases of product that we expected to have and use to help meet our mission,” said Stephen Davis, the President and CEO of Harvesters.  Those deliveries were coming from the USDA's Emergency Food Assistance Program.  Davis says that program provides Harvesters with about 2.4 million pounds of food over the course of a year.  “It's fair to say that we are concerned about the loss of these orders placed on hold or canceled. But also, what does this mean for this program? Because it offers really important products to the neighbors we serve. So it's things like meat and dairy and eggs and produce,” Davis explained.  Davis says the unexpected product loss comes during a time when food insecurity is at a peak locally.  Right now, Harvesters serves about 340,000 people across its 27 counties.  “We are just working as fast as we can with partners in the community to get as much product in, to get it out, because our agencies are saying that they're seeing more people coming to receive assistance and they just don't have all the product they need to provide to those individuals,” Davis said.  Cultivate KC, a nonprofit promoting urban farming and a sustainable and healthy local food system for all, relies heavily on federal funding. Executive Director Brien Darby said at the start of the year, they had 14 grants, but now those funds are frozen.  “We had plans to expand a lot of our programs, including purchasing a new piece of land and adding new staff members to better serve our urban farming audience. All of those plans are on hold,” Darby explained. “Even if we start receiving funds now, it still doesn't feel like a guarantee that during the length of that grant, we won't see these same sort of pauses again.”  MO pastor gets deportation notice for sponsored son from Haiti Darby says there are a few ways to support Cultivate KC & farmers during this time. She encourages people to purchase local food from places like farmers markets and to volunteer time with nonprofits impacted by these cuts.  “This is a time when we are really relying on our donor base to step up and maybe give more than they have in the past just to help us through these uncertain times,” Darby said.  Staff with Harvesters say they are in need of food and monetary donations along with volunteers. ...read more read less