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With the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) cutting a program that provides excess fruits and vegetables to charities, the Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB) is participating in a "day of action" in hopes of seeing a reversal of that decision.
TAFB on Wednesday announced it has joined a statewide coalition of advocates calling for the reversal of TDA's recent decision to cut the Surplus Agricultural Products Grant — a program that provides food banks and other charitable organizations with excess produce from Texas farmers.
The TDA cut this program on Oct. 1, 2020, in response to Gov. Greg Abbott's request for all state agencies to trim their budgets by 5%, as Texas grapples with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the cuts will reduce food distribution in Texas by nearly 20 million pounds, according to the TAFB; and according to Feeding Texas, the statewide network of food banks, TAFB alone will lose $152,807 that would have come from the grant, translating to 1.2 million pounds of fresh produce that won’t be distributed to the 13 counties the organization serves.
“Our community continues to rely on the Tarrant Area Food Bank to provide fresh produce as a part of the food they are receiving in this time of crisis,” Julie Butner, president and CEO of Tarrant Area Food Bank, said in a statement. “This grant greatly benefits our neighbors in need of food and supports our local farmers by sustaining their businesses during these uncertain times.”
Since the start of the pandemic, food insecurity in Texas jumped from 13% to 29%, according to the TAFB. The Food Bank reports it provided access to a total of 60 million meals in fiscal year 2020.
“With more Texans at risk of hunger than ever before, this is not the time to be cutting a critical source of healthy, fresh produce for our community,” Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said in a statement.
TAFB is encouraging locals to contact TDA commissioner Sid Miller to reconsider the decision to cut the grant. Contact information is available here.
