Uncertainly lingers for food banks, farmers following federal funding cuts
The funding for that program would allow food banks to buy produce from local farms.
Greg Hall, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, said one of those programs is LFPA, or the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program.
'We were notified that that program was going to end June 30, and it was a challenge for us. We had used it in our food purchasing budgets to kind of add the extra nutritious element,' said Hall.
Pennsylvania food banks begin to feel effects from federal funding cuts
Roger Schultz with John Schultz & Sons in North East said 2025 continues to be a tough year for farmers.
He said the partnership with Second Harvest and his farm has been beneficial for both parties.
'We already had a lot of chaos going on in the wine industry, and this had just magnified it. We're going to grow the crop, whether it gets harvested and sold for anything remains to be seen,' said Schultz. 'It's a perfect fit for us. We sell our fruit within a hundred-mile circle, so having them purchase from us rather than trucking apples in from Washington or Michigan is way more cost-effective. It helps out the local economy here.'
While production will remain the same year after year, Schultz said there's still a lot of uncertainty.
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'Fruit is a perennial crop. We have to go through all the motions. You're either in the production business with fruit or you're not taking care of stuff, and it's not worth anything when harvest comes. So, we're going to prune, we're going to fertilize, we're going to spray markets, uncertain,' said Schultz.
Despite the uncertainty with the farmers, Hall is keeping a positive outlook towards the future.
'I remain optimistic because we have great community support, both from our community leaders, our donors, from our volunteers and in times like this we're able to lean into the community and kind of come together to find new and innovative ways to find the food our neighbors need,' said Hall.
Schultz said farmers struggled last year as well, and he said this year is not looking any better.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Hamilton Spectator
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Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Boston Globe
As endowments face growing pressure, so does a piece of MIT's piggy bank: Kendall Square
But at a time when university endowments are under fire like never before, MIT's big bet on its backyard feels just a bit more like a gamble than it used to. Advertisement After years of seemingly limitless growth, the value of office and lab buildings in Cambridge has stalled. Citywide, rents are falling. Vacancy rates are high. Cuts to federal research funding threaten the next generation of startups. Advertisement Yes, blue-chip companies still line up to rent space next door to one of the world's preeminent research universities — and MIT's buildings remain mostly full — but in a moment when the school could need its endowment most, one engine of that endowment's recent growth looks less promising than it did just a few years ago. The Kendall Square of today is a vastly different landscape than Kendall Square of decades past, due in large part to MIT's investments. 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'The ideas are there, the research is there, the IP is being created,' she said. 'Exactly zero people have said: 'If given the opportunity, I would not invest in Kendall Square.'' Advertisement A view of Kendall Square from Boston on June 9. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff Catherine Carlock can be reached at
