Ozarks Food Harvest Spokesman Jordan Browning said they were informed Friday by Feeding America that $500 million in the Emergency Food Assistance Program or TEFAP food purchases had been permanently cancelled. The purchases, which were to be funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation, were announced last year.
"This will leave a significant funding gap for us that will trickle down to our network of 270 charities that we serve," Browning said. "And so what that means is we're going to have to increase our fundraising and increase the amount of food that we're purchasing to make sure that our network of agencies can meet that demand because, with this kind of significant cutback, the networks can't absorb that cost."
The cancellation means organizations accessing the TEFAP resources won't have as much variety and amount of product, said Browning, so that's why they'll need to step up and purchase more food.
Many of their partner agencies are in the very rural parts of southwest Missouri and are already facing difficult times, according to Browning. It will be up to OFH to make sure those organizations have food to address hunger in their communities, he said.
But, due to the increased cost of groceries and with food insecurity at an all-time high, he said, OFH will face a challenging year as it tries to meet the increased demand for food in the region it serves.
And Browning said a third of the cancelled orders were protein items like beef, chicken, eggs and pork, some of the most expensive items to purchase and secure, "so all of this was really good, nutritious food that was unfortunately cancelled."
The food bank had been expecting those orders to arrive throughout 2025. After several delays, they finally had deliveries scheduled for April.
The cancellations come at a time when Browning said they're in a 10-year high of food insecurity levels. Here in southwest Missouri, he said one in five children and one in six adults faces hunger.
"This is coming at a very tough time for families," he said, "because so many are still dealing with the increased cost of groceries, housing, childcare, and this is just kind of adding on top of that as well."
USDA recently announced the approval of $261 million for bonus purchases of fruits, vegetables and tree nuts to be distributed through TEFAP. The Food Bank is unsure when these USDA orders will be delivered.
Browning hopes the community will step up to help.
