Even before the freeze of Wisconsin's FoodShare and the federal SNAP program, schools were already facing difficulties feeding their students this year.
In March, the Trump administration cut the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program.
That program gave schools across the country nearly $500 million to buy local fruits and vegetables. It was a lifeline for 289 local farmers in Wisconsin, who sold dairy products and crops like apples and lettuce to nearby school districts.
"(It) really pulled the rug out from underneath a lot of folks," says Mark Schmidt, a former Milwaukee chef who now works in produce sales across the Midwest. "We're talking farmers, we're talking school systems, kids in general — for their nutrition."
Schmidt says that fewer federal dollars going toward school lunches could mean budget cuts for schools across Wisconsin. Schools still need to buy the produce, but are now buying more expensive products from farther away.
Here's his conversation with WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Katherine Kokal: What are you hearing when you're talking to vendors about the changes at the federal level, specifically as it relates to school lunches and the food that schools are able to buy?
Mark Schmidt: It's real tough on the schools. It's really tough on the farmers. It's the way it was done, [it] really pulled the rug out from underneath a lot of folks. And we're talking farmers, we're talking school systems, kids in general for their nutrition. Basically everybody in that chain that was expecting that money to come, they've had the floor dropped out from beneath them. Even after planting for what they were expecting to have money to do. It's leaving a lot of people in a really bad spot.
Can you explain what was happening in schools before this grant program was canceled and what's happening now? Are we seeing fewer fruits and vegetables offered to students?
They're not getting the grant funding for local [produce] and so they're buying elsewhere. But this also puts a huge deficit into their budget, so they're budgeting to have this money. They still have to feed kids, And so they still have to get, they still have menus. They're not necessarily changing their menus. They are here and there, but a lot of these menus and these systems for these school groups are kind of built out ahead of time.
Change is really hard for them. You got to notify parents of a change in school lunch, you know, nutritional value, where it's getting from, there's some schools go more into it than others. To answer your question, yes, there is an impact. They are still getting those items, but they're not local. They're having to pay for it [from] their budget. They have to do budget cuts. And that may be, in one case, it was laying off a teacher, or getting rid of a program because you have to feed the kids. Other places, they have had to raise their fees, which is very difficult to do in the middle of the year. Parents are not in tune and [not] fans of that. Some are. Some fight back viciously with the PTA and the school board.
For me, the biggest thing is, local foods is just so extremely important for our health and our mind and body. I mean, if you're eating what nature has put in the soil around you, it helps you with allergies. It helps you with [illnesses] that you're trying to fight off. The earth provides. And if you're not taking advantage of what's around you, it just doesn't work the same.
Editor's note: Mark Schmidt is a produce seller to school districts around the Midwest. He asked that we not share the name of the company he works for because he’s not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.
Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu
