$500M cut to food aid nationally cost Oregon Food Bank 100 truckloads of food
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
The Ashland Community Food Bank operates on local grants and donations, not federal funds, but that doesn’t make it immune to the ripple effects of ongoing federal cuts, its executive director told Ashland.news in an interview.
The Trump administration halted $500 million in food aid nationally at the end of March, translating to roughly 100 truckloads of food for the Oregon Food Bank, as reported by the Oregonian. The Oregon Food Bank is a supplier of ACCESS, which in turn supplies most food banks in Southern Oregon, Amey Broeker said.
“We’re all part of the same ecosystem,” she said.
She noted that much of the food expected to be delivered up north was high value, high protein items such as meat and dairy.
“That’s awfully hard to come by, it’s so expensive,” she said.
Organizations that lose federal aid will start applying for local grant money. These smaller pools of money are becoming more competitive for smaller amounts of money, she said.
Most of those accessing the food bank — and around 44% of Ashland’s residents and 54% of Talent are eligible to do so — can be categorized under the statistical acronym “ALICE”: asset limited, income constrained, employed, she said.
Many of these people are struggling to make enough to cover the costs of food, rent, transportation, childcare and healthcare simultaneously. The reduction in social safety nets under the current administration will affect the ability of some to make ends meet; each cut could be enough to push a family to seek help or cut corners.
“As the social safety net deteriorates, we know we’re going to see greater numbers of people at our doors,” she said.
The Ashland Community Food Bank is currently secure but looking to be adaptive to ongoing changes as reduction in social safety nets have been affecting the organization since SNAP (Oregon’s “food stamps”) benefits decreased in 2023, as previously reported by Ashland.news. Demand has not stopped climbing, Broeker said.
Any further disturbances to the stock market also have a trickle down effect as grant funds that do not come from government sources are usually family foundations using investment funds to produce charitable funds, she said. Inflation also continues to drive up the cost of food.
The Ashland Community Food Bank is open five days a week, offering food without asking any questions about income.
“We are here for everyone in our community and we want everyone to know that,” she said.
To donate or learn about how to join a group of volunteers Broeker referred to as “absolutely beautiful group of people,” visit the organization’s website.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].
Related stories:
City Corner: Feeding two birds with one bag (Feb. 25, 2025)
Ashland Community Food Bank wins further support for fighting children’s food insecurity (Jan. 21, 2025)
Ashland Community Food Bank: ‘We are here for the community, because of the community’ (Nov. 29, 2024)
