The Trump administration is making major cuts to federal programs. The cuts have been swift and far-reaching, including a cut of more than $1 billion to the U.S Department of Agriculture, or USDA, that directly impact food banks, school and local farmers.
The impact is already being felt. A delivery of $615,000 worth of food to the Hunger Task Force has been cancelled.
The Hunger Task Force helps supply food banks throughout the State of Wisconsin, with a facility based in West Milwaukee. While walking through the facility's freezers, CEO Matt King points to pallets of packaged chicken breast.
"This is actually an example of one of the products that was cancelled," he explains. "So you see chicken breasts, chicken leg, turkey, there's ground beef. You can see there's orders both locally here in Milwaukee, but then orders for Sheboygan that are here."
These USDA programs connected food banks with U.S. farmers, an arrangement that helped feed American families in-need and local farmers.
Alongside cuts to funding, King says that access to food for those in need is likely to be reduced as well.
"What we have seen is what seems to be a strategy to increase barriers to access. So, further restricting who can have access to resources," says King.
The loss of this food for families in-need could be devastating in Wisconsin, as experts warn that the tariffs and economic instability caused by the Trump administration is likely to lead to a recession.
"While many of these programs will continue and are written into the law, [Congress and the Trump administration] are looking at significant cuts in the budget reconciliation that's happening right now," King explains.
