TOPEKA (KSNT) - Changes through the federal government are making a significant impact on food assistance programs right here in northeast Kansas.
The cuts come at a time when one in eight people in the area are facing food insecurity, according to Harvesters.
Organizations that work to combat
that insecurity are raising the alarm bells.
“We actually right now are facing a food insecurity crisis higher than it’s been in a decade, higher than it's been since the pandemic" Harvesters Chief Resource Officer, Elizabeth Keever said. "One of the main reasons is rising costs. We have the rising costs of housing, rising cost of food. Food is up 29% since the pandemic. That’s why some of the issues that we’re facing now with the cuts and the TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) program hit really hard, because we need help more than ever.”
As a result of the need rising since 2022, the Flint Hills Breadbasket, a local food pantry, is expanding to a significantly bigger building in the next month.
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“Our families that are experiencing food insecurity look like everybody else," Executive Director of the Flint Hills Breadbasket, Karla Hagemeister said. "They are working families, they are maybe families who are caregivers, they’re taking care of a family member who is sick, elderly, disabled. A flat tire, a car repair, a medical bill, anything like that happens could throw some families into chaos or throw them into poverty or food insecurity at any given moment.”
Last week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), directly impacting their emergency food assistance program.
Harvesters said that was highly desirable food and essential ingredients that the organization was expecting starting this week, and was set to continue throughout 2025.
“It was a cancellation for things like eggs, milk and healthy protein like chicken and turkey," Keever said. "This is food that would have otherwise gone directly into the hands of our neighbors, and now is completely canceled and we don’t know the status of it. Last month, 18,500 neighbors received Tefap product in the region. Those folks in this upcoming month, are going to have 30% less food to take home of that product.”
That hit to Harvesters impacts food banks and pantries across the region, even those that don't receive any federal or state funding like the Flint Hills Breadbasket.
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“Our relationship with Harvesters is one of the things that has allowed us to grow our program and make sure we are meeting the needs of our community," Hagemeister said. "Harvesters is a piece of the equation for us. It’s not all of the equation, but it is something that allowed us to grow and has allowed us to be stable and sustainable.”
Changes to what food options will be available at any given time are leaving big questions that local food banks don't necessarily have the answer to.
“Can I replace these items? Are we going to have to restrict some things, change some programing? We don’t want to do that, our families are needing our support," Hagemeister said. "You have things coming in right now. You have that just in time, and what do I need for today. We’ve got today taken care of, what worries us is where are we two months from now, three months from now, four months from now.”
The Flint Hills Breadbasket estimates it serves 400 families in any given week.
Harvesters works directly with 27 counties and about 900 agencies. It's expecting these cancellations to impact 4% of all food that they distributed in 2024..
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