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New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
More NYC dogs mauled by other pooches without consequence as state bill to close legal loophole stalls: ‘Should not be happening'
City dogs continue to be mauled by other pooches without consequence because a state bill prompted by the horrific Penny the Chihuahua attack has stalled, animal activists say. Upper West Side resident Jennifer Busse told The Post a pit bull who was illegally off his leash mauled her tiny 13-year-old shih tzu-chihuahua mix Forrest in Riverside Park earlier this month — and that the NYPD said there are still no avenues in the criminal-justice system to punish the four-legged attacker's careless owner. 'Something needs to change,' Busse fumed. 4 Chihuahua mix Forrest was attacked by a vicious dog in Riverside Park on June 6 — but current laws prevent police from taking criminal action, owner Jennifer Busse told The Post. Courtesy of Jennifer Busse She said Forrest was sleeping in the grass at the Manhattan park June 6 when he was suddenly pounced on by the pit bull in front of her screaming terrified children, ages 6 and 8. Busse said her poor pooch lost vision in his right eye while being left with more than a dozen puncture wounds from the attack. Yet cops said their hands were tied, according to Busse. 4 Joe Columbus' pit bulls are accused of mauling Penny. Obtained by NY Post 4 Penny recovers at her owner's apartment after being attacked by two dogs on the Upper West Side last month. Gabriella Bass 'Due to current laws, harm or death to an animal caused by another animal is not a criminal matter,' an NYPD rep confirmed to The Post. The attack occurred just weeks after a similar incident involving Penny the Chihuahua on the Upper West Side made national headlines. The 16-pound Chihuahua was mauled by a pair of pit bulls near Columbus Avenue on May 3. The case prompted state Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar last month to introduce a bill that seeks to allow owners to be potentially criminally charged for pet-on-pet injuries, as opposed to only facing a possible civil lawsuit. 'Pets are not property, they are family,' Rajkumar said at the time. But the legislation remains stalled in the Assembly's Agriculture Committee, although it's unclear exactly why. 4 Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar proposed 'Penny's Law' in the state legislature last month. Stephen Yang The bill would make it possible to levy charges against careless owners, including 'cruelty to animals through negligent handling of a dog' and 'leaving the scene of an animal attack.' It would also impose harsher penalties for those who repeatedly violate city leash laws. The bill is named after Penny. 'This lack of accountability has permitted numerous dog owners to allow their pets to attack other dogs,' Rajkumar said last month. 'The same owners will allow the behavior repeatedly, often dismissing it as 'playing' or 'a dog being a dog.' ' Busse said, 'I totally understand that people who are homeless have [some of] these animals for companionship for protection. 'But at a certain point, this kind of situation is so unsafe for the community.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
These Kids Fought the Climate Crisis in Court. Now They're Taking on Trump
Inside a packed arena at the University of Montana in April, 20-year-old Lander Busse stepped onto the stage to thunderous applause. More than 9,000 people had turned out here in Missoula for the Fighting Oligarchy rally organized by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — a remarkable crowd in a state that went to Donald Trump by nearly 20 points and ousted longtime Democratic Senator Jon Tester in favor of a novice MAGA Republican. Busse was here at the request of Senator Sanders, who had invited on stage plaintiffs from the Held v. Montana case — the landmark verdict in which a group of youth won against the state for violating their Constitutional right to a healthy environment by knowingly contributing to climate change. Busse was quick to accept. Standing at the lectern alongside fellow plaintiff 21-year-old Olivia Vesovich to amp up the crowd before Sanders and AOC took the floor, emanating confidence from his six-foot-four frame, Busse appeared made for the stage. 'Governor Gianforte and the Attorney General threw everything they had at us,' he boomed into the microphone, re-capping the Montana court victory. 'But just like all of you here today, we would not be silenced. They thought we wouldn't put up a fight. But they were wrong.' People in the bleachers rose for a standing ovation. After the approving roar died down, Busse hinted at what was to come. 'Very soon, we will be taking the fight from Montana to D.C.,' he said. He ended his speech with a call to the attendees. 'Have the courage to believe in something better. Do what we did. Roll up your sleeves, get dirty, and have the courage to join us to take our nation back.' As the crowd erupted, Busse raised his fist in the air. 'They thought we wouldn't put up a fight. But they were wrong.' Lander Busse Less than a month and a half later, Busse, along with 21 other youths, including Busse's younger brother Badge, sued the Trump administration for violating their Fifth Amendment rights to life, liberty, and property with a suite of executive orders aimed at increasing America's fossil fuel production. Just like the Held case was, this federal case has the potential to be precedent-setting as one of the most important for the health of future generations — if the youth win. And in the center of the photo widely circulated to media by Our Children's Trust, the non-profit public interest law firm which filed Lighthiser v. Trump on behalf of the youth plaintiffs, holding a microphone to his lips and looking more like a budding rock star than an activist, was Lander Busse. BUSSE SPOKE TO ME LAST WEEK FROM A ranch outside Missoula where he's working for the summer. Crickets chirped in the background as he told me that he essentially grew up with the Held case. He was 15 years old when he signed on to it, alarmed at how climate change was affecting fly fishing, hunting, and other characteristics of his lifestyle here that are deeply connected to the land and the health of that land. 'With the propaganda produced by both the federal and state [of Montana] level, people have been brainwashed into believing that the degradation of the places they love is just a way of life. But it doesn't have to be this way,' he tells me. Busse was 18 when the case finally went to trial, and 20 by the time the Montana Supreme Court upheld the verdict last December. Living in ultra-conservative Kalispell, he and his brother Badge had minimal local support for their involvement in the case. Both lost friends over it, and Badge worried about possible armed intimidation outside the Helena courtroom where the youth plaintiffs testified two summers ago after he'd had an AK-47 aimed at him during a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally in nearby Whitefish (no armed protestors popped up in Helena). 'We knew when we filed the Held case that it would be a long fight and it would be hard. We knew that the state would beat us down. Or that they would try to beat us down,' Busse says. To be met with such wild applause at the April rally took his breath away. 'It was this feeling of elation that we're part of progress, of helping fix this thing. We're more driven than ever to keep fighting.' Back in December, around the time the state Supreme Court upheld Held v. Montana, Busse got word that a similar federal case — Juliana v. United States, which had launched a wave of youth-led climate lawsuits around the country — would be dismissed after languishing unsuccessfully for nearly a decade. That case had argued that the government's policies promoting the production and export of fossil fuel use over many decades violated young people's Fifth Amendment rights. A Ninth Circuit of Appeals Court dismissed the case back in 2020, saying courts were not the right venue to address climate change. Although the Held case had since set precedent for courts to address climate change, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. Within weeks after the dismissal, Busse was on the phone with Our Children's Trust attorneys as Trump began to make good on his campaign promises to prop up America's fossil fuel industry. A new opportunity was brewing, this time with clear and shorter-term legal targets. Lighthiser v. Trump takes aim at three of President Trump's executive orders: Unleash American Energy, specific to developing fossil fuel energy and rolling back renewable energy; Declaring a National Energy Emergency, which accelerates the identification, leasing, production, and transportation of domestic crude oil, gas and coal; and Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Energy. This last smacks of retaliation for the Held victory, since Montana is one of the top five coal producers in the U.S.; its extraction levels are higher than that of entire countries, including Brazil, with total annual fossil fuel emissions on the order of 160 tons of CO2. In addition, the Colstrip power plant in eastern Montana, the only coal plant in the nation without modern pollution controls and which emits more harmful soot than any other American power plant, received a Trump exemption from a Biden administration rule that compelled it to install new equipment. The Lighthiser lawsuit alleges that these orders are unconstitutional. Under the Fifth Amendment that protects our rights to life, liberty, or property, 'government can't intentionally and knowingly put us in harm's way or enhance a dangerous situation we're already in — which is what these executive orders do to our plaintiffs,' explains Julia Olson, an attorney with Our Children's Trust, which filed the suit. 'They're already living in a climate emergency, and have severe health injuries, and injuries to their homes, family businesses, and ways of life.' In a statement to Rolling Stone, White House representative Taylor Rogers says, 'The American people are more concerned with the future generations' economic and national security, which is why they elected President Trump in a landslide victory to restore America's energy dominance. Future generations should not have to foot the bill of the left's radical climate agenda.' (Trump actually pulled in less than 50% of the popular vote, making the 2024 presidential election the second-closest since 1968.) The executive orders state that they're intended to protect American prosperity and energy security. 'But if there's an energy emergency, you don't shut down wind, solar efficiency measures, and energy storage measures,' Olson points out. 'You want to expand those because they create energy security. If you want American prosperity, you want people to pay the least amount for energy, and you want the energy to be safe and not cause trillions of dollars in economic harm and damage to the nation because of all the extreme disasters we're facing. 'This is about the health of children and their opportunity for a prosperous and healthy and joyful future.' Julia Olson, Our Children's Trust attorney 'The government is saying, very bluntly, that it's going to unleash fossil fuels, block clean renewable energy that would avoid pollution, and take down all the climate science and information that helps people stay safe, or at least to know when the danger is coming.' Although the Held case took years to go to trial and the Juliana case stalled out in legal purgatory for even longer, Olson believes this lawsuit will move quickly. 'A lot of the cases challenging other executive orders are moving on fast tracks. I expect that we'll have a decision before this administration is over.' But even before the case goes to trial, Our Children's Trust is asking the court to freeze implementation of the orders pending a full decision, in hopes of stopping more fossil fuel emissions (which the plaintiffs, and the next generation after them, will have to live with, Olson says) from entering the atmosphere while the case is heard. Olson wants people to know that this lawsuit isn't about politics; she grew up in a Republican family herself, she says. 'This is about science and listening to doctors. It's about the health of children and their opportunity for a prosperous and healthy and joyful future. If you talk to young people today, they don't see those opportunities. They see a world of harm and devastation and loss. And we need to change that for them.' RIPLEY, AN 18-YEAR-OLD PLAINTIFF in the Lighthiser case, just graduated from high school in Livingston, Montana. She requests that I not use her last name or disclose where she plans to go college. When I ask if she's worried about retaliation, she says, 'Well, yeah. We're suing the President of the United States, arguably the most powerful man on the planet. And we've seen again and again throughout this administration, and the last one he had, that he's not too keen on people who try to push back against him.' Determination outweighs Ripley's worry, though. She's one of those youth who don't see a bright future ahead. She grew up fishing the Yellowstone River with her father, backpacking, hiking, and skiing. She wanted to pass on those outdoor traditions to her own children. But she's not sure she wants to have a family in an environment that, as she hears constantly, is dying around her. She's also experienced it, she says. 'I've seen awful things in my day-to-day life that have affected me personally.' In 2020, the county sheriff knocked on her family's door and told them to start packing their things; the Bridger Foothills Fire was raging fast over Bozeman Pass. She could see the flames. Her home ended up unscathed, but 28 others burned. The EPA states that 'higher temperatures and drought are likely to increase the severity, frequency, and extent of wildfires in Montana.' Two years later, the Yellowstone River flooded catastrophically after an atmospheric river dropped unprecedented amounts of rain, which experts say was an extreme weather event exacerbated by climate change. Ripley joined other community members at the fairgrounds to fill sandbags to keep levees from breaking. The flood damaged homes and ranches, demolished bridges and parts of roads, and devastated Yellowstone tourism and the income of the people who relied on it. When Ripley heard about the Held case, she asked her teacher if the Green Initiative group she was part of in high school could go up to Helena to watch the trial. 'I watched multiple testimonies, people on the stand, and it was really inspirational. These were kids my age, from my state, and they were changing the world. They were taking their state to court. And they won. That was hugely moving for me. I realized that just because I'm from the middle of nowhere, that doesn't mean I can't create change.' Ripley's Green Initiative group worked hard last year to convince the school board to switch over to electric school buses, and to secure an EPA grant to buy them. But then that funding was frozen this year by the Trump administration. So when the opportunity came to be involved in the Lighthiser case, Ripley jumped at it. 'It was obvious,' she says. 'There was no other choice.' GIVEN THAT WE'RE IN AN UNPRECEDENTED moment in which a presidential administration has signaled its willingness to ignore the rulings of courts, one of three co-equal branches of government, I ask Olson for her perspective on the current weight of lawsuits — especially one as precedent-setting as Lighthiser. The thing about the courts and the Constitution, she says, 'is that we have to use them. Or we'll lose them both. But I also believe that our institutions and the people of the United States won't tolerate a president who is going to disregard court orders and continue to consolidate power and wealth at the expense of ordinary Americans,' Busse says he's not worried about any strong-arming from the Trump administration. After his experiences with the Held case, nothing surprises him anymore. Maybe there was an era when there was decorum in these processes, he says, but he's never seen it in his lifetime. He holds fast to the belief that the science and the body of evidence upon which the youth rest their case will be vindicated by history. 'We know we're on the right side of things,' he says. 'And we know the importance of this. We're going for the throat with this one.' More from Rolling Stone Gavin Newsom Slams Trump's 'Weakness' After Arrest Threat Trump Mobilizes Marines, Escalating Los Angeles Conflict Trump Suddenly Cares About 'Insurrectionists' and Protecting Cops Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mapping Young Minds: The Neuroscience Behind Babilou Family Singapore's Revolutionary Education Model
SINGAPORE, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The foundation of a child's lifelong learning and well-being is built in the early years. Babilou Family Singapore (BFS) applies neuroscience-backed principles to early education, creating an environment where curiosity, emotional intelligence, and adaptability are nurtured. By integrating 20th-century educational theories with modern 21st-century research, BFS's Sustainable Education® framework empowers children with essential tools to thrive in an increasingly complex world. Parenting as a Model for Education As both a father and leader, CEO Benjamin Busse understands that active listening and understanding are fundamental for effective education and leadership. Drawing from his personal experiences as a parent, Busse emphasises the transformative power of being fully present and creating an environment of genuine connection. "At BFS, we strive to ensure every child and educator feels heard, valued, and empowered to grow," he explains. "When children feel secure and know that their opinions are valued, they naturally become engaged learners, and the same principle applies to our educators." Research from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child backs this philosophy. Studies show that secure attachment in early childhood lays the foundation for long-term cognitive and emotional development and overall well-being. This belief is reflected in BFS's approach to education, where child-led inquiry and teacher mentorship blend to create an enriching learning environment. Sustainable Education®: Blending Neuroscience Research with Pedagogy BFS's Sustainable Education® framework is the result of decades of educational evolution, merging classical pedagogies from early childhood theorists such as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky with the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience. Studies confirm that early experiences shape neural pathways, influencing lifelong learning potential and capabilities. BFS's educational model is firmly rooted in cognitive science, with teaching methods that are adapted to how young minds learn best. By leveraging extensive research into how children learn and what they need to develop and thrive, BFS continuously refines its curriculum to enhance learning outcomes and holistic development. Grounded in evidence-based methodologies, BFS's Sustainable Education® approach prioritises cognitive development, emotional well-being, and effective learning strategies. Sustainable Education® is built on six fundamental principles: Physical Safety and Emotional Security, Natural Curiosity, Nature-Based Learning, Respecting Children's Natural Rhythms, Inclusion and Diversity, and Family Partnerships. "Sustainable Education® focuses on long-term solutions for early childhood challenges, ensuring children have a strong foundation and the resources they need for the future," explains Rowena Ramos, Head of Curriculum at BFS. "Our role is to prepare children for a fast-changing world, and by embedding Sustainable Education® into our curriculum, we are equipping children with the skills and mindset to thrive while keeping up with the changing educational landscape." Digital Well-Being and Sustainable Learning: Preparing Children for a Connected World Recognising that society is advancing quickly into the digital age, science has shown us the importance and need for digital well-being. Young children learn best and make quality neuro-connections when they experience or learn using their senses, which screens, on the other hand, might not be able to offer. BFS advocates screen-free activities that actively engage a child's creativity, curiosity, and social skills. Screens are only used in the classrooms for educational purposes (such as introducing new concepts) and with guidance. BFS carefully balances digital exposure with nature exploration, hands-on activities, and opportunities for social interaction to ensure that children have a well-rounded learning experience. "We help families strike a balance," says Ramos. "Children benefit most from hands-on, sensory experiences rather than passive screen time." Nonetheless, digital opportunities are inadvertently shaping early childhood experiences. BFS's screen-free practices were affirmed when Singapore launched the Grow Well SG initiative. Recent guidelines released by the Ministry of Health recommend that children under 18 months not be exposed to screens, including background screen use, while older children should have limited exposure and only to interactive, high-quality content. A Parent's Perspective: Learning Beyond the Classroom For many parents, BFS's approach to education has been transformative. Dawn Koh, whose sons Josh and Jude have both attended KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, shares her experience: "Josh constantly looks forward to school. He tells us that he enjoys the company of his teachers and friends. When we interact with the staff, we can see why Josh thrives: they have an openness that allows each child to be uniquely themselves and inculcates discipline that helps the kids forge strong values. A child's enjoyment of learning is the most precious thing and the hardest to cultivate. We love that KiddiWinkie has provided an open and conducive environment for that to happen, and we couldn't ask for more!" About Babilou Family Singapore Babilou Family Singapore is a subsidiary of Babilou Family Group, a France-incorporated Early Childhood organisation with a network of more than 1,000 nurseries and a presence in 10 countries around the world. Babilou Family Singapore has now grown to 61 education and learning centres island-wide. This includes preschool brands KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse and Little Footprints Preschool, and student care brand Learning Leap. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Babilou Family Singapore Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mapping Young Minds: The Neuroscience Behind Babilou Family Singapore's Revolutionary Education Model
SINGAPORE, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The foundation of a child's lifelong learning and well-being is built in the early years. Babilou Family Singapore (BFS) applies neuroscience-backed principles to early education, creating an environment where curiosity, emotional intelligence, and adaptability are nurtured. By integrating 20th-century educational theories with modern 21st-century research, BFS's Sustainable Education® framework empowers children with essential tools to thrive in an increasingly complex world. Parenting as a Model for Education As both a father and leader, CEO Benjamin Busse understands that active listening and understanding are fundamental for effective education and leadership. Drawing from his personal experiences as a parent, Busse emphasises the transformative power of being fully present and creating an environment of genuine connection. "At BFS, we strive to ensure every child and educator feels heard, valued, and empowered to grow," he explains. "When children feel secure and know that their opinions are valued, they naturally become engaged learners, and the same principle applies to our educators." Research from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child backs this philosophy. Studies show that secure attachment in early childhood lays the foundation for long-term cognitive and emotional development and overall well-being. This belief is reflected in BFS's approach to education, where child-led inquiry and teacher mentorship blend to create an enriching learning environment. Sustainable Education®: Blending Neuroscience Research with Pedagogy BFS's Sustainable Education® framework is the result of decades of educational evolution, merging classical pedagogies from early childhood theorists such as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky with the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience. Studies confirm that early experiences shape neural pathways, influencing lifelong learning potential and capabilities. BFS's educational model is firmly rooted in cognitive science, with teaching methods that are adapted to how young minds learn best. By leveraging extensive research into how children learn and what they need to develop and thrive, BFS continuously refines its curriculum to enhance learning outcomes and holistic development. Grounded in evidence-based methodologies, BFS's Sustainable Education® approach prioritises cognitive development, emotional well-being, and effective learning strategies. Sustainable Education® is built on six fundamental principles: Physical Safety and Emotional Security, Natural Curiosity, Nature-Based Learning, Respecting Children's Natural Rhythms, Inclusion and Diversity, and Family Partnerships. "Sustainable Education® focuses on long-term solutions for early childhood challenges, ensuring children have a strong foundation and the resources they need for the future," explains Rowena Ramos, Head of Curriculum at BFS. "Our role is to prepare children for a fast-changing world, and by embedding Sustainable Education® into our curriculum, we are equipping children with the skills and mindset to thrive while keeping up with the changing educational landscape." Digital Well-Being and Sustainable Learning: Preparing Children for a Connected World Recognising that society is advancing quickly into the digital age, science has shown us the importance and need for digital well-being. Young children learn best and make quality neuro-connections when they experience or learn using their senses, which screens, on the other hand, might not be able to offer. BFS advocates screen-free activities that actively engage a child's creativity, curiosity, and social skills. Screens are only used in the classrooms for educational purposes (such as introducing new concepts) and with guidance. BFS carefully balances digital exposure with nature exploration, hands-on activities, and opportunities for social interaction to ensure that children have a well-rounded learning experience. "We help families strike a balance," says Ramos. "Children benefit most from hands-on, sensory experiences rather than passive screen time." Nonetheless, digital opportunities are inadvertently shaping early childhood experiences. BFS's screen-free practices were affirmed when Singapore launched the Grow Well SG initiative. Recent guidelines released by the Ministry of Health recommend that children under 18 months not be exposed to screens, including background screen use, while older children should have limited exposure and only to interactive, high-quality content. A Parent's Perspective: Learning Beyond the Classroom For many parents, BFS's approach to education has been transformative. Dawn Koh, whose sons Josh and Jude have both attended KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, shares her experience: "Josh constantly looks forward to school. He tells us that he enjoys the company of his teachers and friends. When we interact with the staff, we can see why Josh thrives: they have an openness that allows each child to be uniquely themselves and inculcates discipline that helps the kids forge strong values. A child's enjoyment of learning is the most precious thing and the hardest to cultivate. We love that KiddiWinkie has provided an open and conducive environment for that to happen, and we couldn't ask for more!" About Babilou Family Singapore Babilou Family Singapore is a subsidiary of Babilou Family Group, a France-incorporated Early Childhood organisation with a network of more than 1,000 nurseries and a presence in 10 countries around the world. Babilou Family Singapore has now grown to 61 education and learning centres island-wide. This includes preschool brands KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse and Little Footprints Preschool, and student care brand Learning Leap. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Babilou Family Singapore Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
After Federal Cuts, Food Banks Scrounge and Scrimp
Sara Busse needed to make a hot meal for 40 needy seniors. She had promised a main dish, a starch, a vegetable, a fruit and a dessert. In the past, she had gotten many of those ingredients for free from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This time, she had dried cranberries, crackers and vegetable soup. 'What am I supposed to do?' she said. 'What am I supposed to cook?' Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut about $1 billion in federal aid to anti-hunger groups, according to the national advocacy group Feeding America. That put more pressure on charitable organizations that distribute groceries or meals to hold up their corner of the American safety net, dipping into reserves and scrounging for donations to replace the food they had lost. Ms. Busse's charity in the shadow of West Virginia's Capitol illustrates this struggle in miniature. Trinity's Table serves meals at a senior gathering, a child-care center and a women's shelter, all to people living in or near poverty. For many of her clients, Ms. Busse said, this may be the heartiest meal of the week — and perhaps the only one of the day. In the past few months, Ms. Busse had already spent $10,000 — a third of her group's savings — to keep the meals going, replacing the ingredients the government was no longer providing. She said she had began to feel as if she were trapped in some grim reality cooking show, forced to turn a dwindling supply of federal aid into 600 meals a week, for as long she could. 'It's like being on 'Chopped,' every week,' Ms. Busse said, as another volunteer began opening cans of vegetable soup. It was 10 a.m. The seniors ate at noon. 'We get weird stuff, and we make it into a meal.' The Agriculture Department began helping food banks this way in the 1980s, with a program that served a dual purpose: It provided nutritional items to needy individuals but also propped up prices for U.S. farmers, by buying their goods and then giving them away. During his first term, President Trump did not cut this aid; he increased it, sharply, to accommodate farm surpluses caused by his trade wars and the hunger that followed the Covid-19 pandemic. Spending on food aid quadrupled, to $3 billion in 2020. This time, however, Mr. Trump's administration did the opposite. It canceled about $1 billion in food aid announced last fall by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to Feeding America. Feeding America said that, before those cuts, it had projected that the government would spend $2 billion on aid to food banks this fiscal year. The Agriculture Department has defended these moves as fiscally responsible, paring back pandemic-era aid programs that Mr. Biden had allowed to remain bloated long past their time. 'The program continues to operate uninterrupted, as originally intended by Congress,' a spokesperson for the Agriculture Department wrote. The sudden cutbacks hit hard in Appalachia, where hunger is especially prevalent and government aid plays an outsize role in fighting it. Food banks in cities typically get 25 percent or less of their food from the Agriculture Department. They have other options: donations from big-box stores and grocery distribution centers, wealthy benefactors and companies. Not here. Facing Hunger Foodbank, which supplies groceries to food pantries and charity kitchens in the southern half of West Virginia, relied on the government for about 40 percent of its food. It had been expecting 16 truckloads from the government for April. Then 11 of those were canceled, said Cyndi Kirkhart, the food bank's chief executive. 'Typically, these would be full,' Ms. Kirkhart said, walking through largely empty walk-in freezers at her warehouse in Huntington, that held deliveries of Agriculture Department meat. There was a small stack of boxes holding ground pork, and a few dozen boxes of frozen whitefish. 'This is the last of the meat that we received from U.S.D.A.,' she said. Ms. Kirkhart said her deliveries from the government had fallen by 42 percent this year. She said they also had been more disjointed: Instead of supplying meat, cheese and pasta together, she had gotten odds and ends that were harder to assemble into a main dish. Looking ahead into the government deliveries scheduled for later this year, she said, it did not look any better. 'In July, I've got baked beans, I have apple sauce and we have rolled oats,' she said, scrolling through deliveries scheduled for the summer. 'I don't know what you do with that.' It was not just the food banks that were caught off guard. One of the Biden-era programs ended by the Trump administration paid for food banks to buy food from local farmers, whose goods are often fresher but more expensive. In Ripley, W. Va., Aaron Simon had vastly expanded his operation to cater to this business: He built a slaughterhouse and meat-cutting facilities for more than a million dollars, borrowing money on the expectation that he could sell 7,000 pounds of ground meat every month to West Virginia food banks, for $50,000 a month in revenue. Now, Mr. Simon said his orders from food banks have shrunk to a fifth of that, as the remaining money in the program is exhausted. He was told that next month's order would be the last. He has halted his expansion plans, and stopped buying cows from local farmers. He said he agreed with Mr. Trump's desire to cut waste in the budget. But, in his view, this was not waste. 'They don't understand: 'Hey, you're cutting the backbone of America,'' Mr. Simon said. 'If he knew what was exactly happening right now, I don't think he would support that at all.' In West Virginia, food pantries are often run by rural churches, facing extreme poverty. Some say they make sure to stock foods that can be cooked over a fire, for clients without electricity. Seeing this shortfall coming, many leaders said they prayed for another source to emerge, something that would replace what was missing. Then, in late February, something did. 'The Cheez-It truck crashed,' said Kim Dockus, who helps runs a food pantry at reGeneration Church in Huntington. Mr. Dockus was celebrating the fact that a semi hauling 21,000 pounds of cheese crackers had overturned on a bridge that connected Ohio and West Virginia. The insurance company donated the Cheez-Its. 'Most of them were good,' Mr. Dockus said. 'It was just a few that came in a little bit smashed.' 'We don't pray for those things to happen,' said Jackie Thompson, who runs a food bank at the Church of Christ in Guyandotte, It was a mixed blessing, in any event: The charities lost truckloads of meat and vegetables and gained a truck of snack foods, which would fill the belly but not provide much in the way of nutrients. The demand had not changed, even if the supply had. That was the reason Ms. Busse, a former newspaper reporter who runs the soup kitchen and food pantry at Charleston's Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, felt like she had suddenly been cast on a reality show. Even in good times, hers is a job that requires creativity and relentlessness. When people in the community die, she asks for their spices. When she was stuck with a glut of dried split peas at the food pantry last year — clients found them too hard to cook — she fed them to deer. The deer later became lunch. 'Made the venison into spaghetti,' she said. But now, she had lost about a quarter of her food. Ms. Busse said that she began to fill the gaps by spending down the savings, and by wheedling more donations out of parishioners. She worried that, if she served incomplete meals, her clients might not show up, missing out on one of the few full meals they eat in a week. That meant that she had do make something complete out of the crackers, cranberries and vegetable soup. First, she needed a main dish. So she used $35 of the church's money to buy ground beef and chicken stock, fortifying the government's wan soup. The crackers would be her starch. Then she got a parishioner to make three big pans of spinach salad, to go with the government's cranberries. Vegetable, check. For the finale, she thawed out an apple crisp that dated to the Biden administration. There was the fruit. It was coated in sugar, but it was fruit. When noon arrived, the seniors liked it enough to take home leftovers (though they left most of the cranberries). 'This affects professional people, who have always worked, always contributed,' but wind up in need, said Patricia Rosebourgh, 75, a retired teacher, as she waited in line for the food at the Roosevelt Community Center. She said she was not a supporter of Mr. Trump, and that she had predicted he and Elon Musk would cut aid. 'People just didn't think: It could affect me.' One client gratefully slipped a chocolate egg into the pocket of Ms. Busse's apron. But Ms. Busse said both her money and her parishioners' patience appear to be dwindling. It will be hard to keep this up for months more. Ms. Kirkhart had already seen next month's challenge. Ms. Busse's next delivery would include none of something that Ms. Busse needed: green vegetables. And it would include 48 pounds of something she didn't need at all: fig pieces. 'Fig. Pieces.' Ms. Kirkhart said, pausing for emphasis. She had not had the heart to tell Ms. Busse yet. 'It's not even a whole fig.'
