SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County shares the potential impact on its services after the USDA announced major budget cuts.
The Department of Agriculture has halted $500 million in deliveries to food banks nationwide.
This comes at a time when the foodbank’s new sharehouse just kicked off.
Many residents are also struggling to afford food since supermarket prices remain high.
The foodbank team had hoped to fill the new sharehouse with food supplies right away.
The foodbank team including CEO Erik Talkin will discuss how the announcement could slow their plans to fill up the warehouse.
In light of the funding cuts, the foodbank hopes the community will step up in their support.
From the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County:
Santa Barbara, Calif. (March 24, 2025) – Amid the highest food insecurity rates in nearly a decade, proposed federal changes threaten to deepen hunger across Santa Barbara County, putting thousands of local families, seniors, and children at greater risk. The proposed cuts to USDA and state-funded programs signal a severe threat to the region’s food security.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which moves nutritious food from farms to food banks, has put approximately 330 loads of federal food commodities on hold in California—resulting in the delay and potentially significant loss of food for FBSBC. The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which enabled FBSBC to source fresh, local produce, has been effectively canceled with the termination of LFPA 25, ending essential support for small local farmers. Additionally, proposed budget changes to CalFood, a state-funded program that provides dollars to food banks to purchase California-grown foods, threaten to reduce its vital investment in California food and agriculture businesses. Altogether, these cuts and cancellations represent a food loss currently estimated at approximately $1.5 million for the Foodbank.
“We want all our neighbors in Santa Barbara County to know that the Foodbank has always been there for them in times of need, and that will continue to be the case despite our current challenges with obtaining enough food support from the Federal government,” said Foodbank CEO Erik Talkin. “That is because we operate as the will of this community to ensure that every family, every older adult, has enough nutritious food to keep us strong.”
USDA foods typically make up 30% of the food distributed by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, which already serves 1 in 3 of our neighbors. Drastic cuts to government-funded food programs and reductions across the social service sector will increase hunger and food insecurity, leaving many families unable to meet basic needs—especially in a County that has the second-highest poverty rate of any California County.
Despite these challenges, the Foodbank remains steadfast in supporting our community, just as during the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago. We are closely monitoring ongoing changes to funding and legislation and working proactively to meet community needs.
We can no longer rely on the Federal government to help us meet community food, it falls on the Foodbank and our partner agencies. While challenging, this transition presents an opportunity for our communities to band together and create more local and sustainable programs that will have a lasting positive impact on Santa Barbara County. The Foodbank will need increased support from our community as we face these unprecedented changes. Monetary donations will support the incredibly cost-efficient food purchasing and sourcing power of the Foodbank. Our partnerships with local and state networks mean that our buying power can have five times the impact. We urge our neighbors to donate any amount and visit us at foodbanksbc.org to learn how they can help.
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County prepares for cuts to Government Food Programs News Channel 3-12.
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