Shapiro sues USDA over federal cuts to farm and food bank funding

In a sign of the growing rift within Pennsylvania’s agriculture community over proposed federal budget cuts, Gov. Josh Shapiro was flanked by several commonwealth farmers at a press conference as he announced he was suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture for “illegally and abruptly” terminating Pennsylvania’s local food purchasing assistance program, known as LFPA. 

Speaking at the Philadelphia warehouse of Share Food Program, a food bank, Shapiro denounced the slashing – four months into a three-year contract – of a $13 million initiative that provides critical support to nearly 200 Pennsylvania farms through funding for crops and commodities, which in turn supply 14 food banks across the commonwealth. 

“The United States Department of Agriculture believes that it does not align with their priorities to pay Pennsylvania farmers to produce food to feed hungry people. Let that sink in,” said the governor. “I don’t get what the hell their priorities are, if not feeding people and taking care of our farmers … For many of those farmers, the LFPA represented between 10% and 15% of their annual market share.” He added that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs have already complicated the economic picture for farmers by effectively closing potential markets.

“In Pennsylvania, we know that our farms are the roots of our values and purpose, and key to the solutions and our shared strength,” affirmed state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, who had appealed the federal action prior to the lawsuit. “This is exactly why the decision by the USDA to terminate the LFPA is troubling.”

A USDA spokesperson told City & State that the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The LFPA termination is not the only threatened federal subsidy that is worrying farmers. Last week, the National Young Farmers Coalition issued a harsh critique of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” for its proposed $300 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, which provides a vital revenue stream to farmers in Pennsylvania and nationally. (The coalition declined requests to comment on the SNAP cuts’ impact on commonwealth farmers specifically.)

Meanwhile, U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson – a Centre County Republican and arguably the state’s highest-profile farmer – has praised the spending bill for “stopping tax hikes, reining in spending, investing in rural America, and restoring integrity to programs like SNAP.”

Shapiro emphasized that if Pennsylvania farmers and nutrition providers lost millions in promised federal support, the state’s agriculture and nutrition ecosystem would be severely compromised.

“Whether it’s LFPA or SNAP or Medicaid or … funding for our farmers, or for hungry folks … we do not have the ability to backfill that,” the governor said. Maintaining the current equilibrium, he added, “requires everybody to hold up their end of the bargain. The federal government didn’t do that, and that’s why I’m forced to take them to court.”