The U.S. Department of Agriculture has halted the delivery of more than a million pounds of meat, eggs and dairy to food banks in Nevada ― even as many report that the need for food assistance has only increased.

Dozens of trucks filled with fresh food bound for Nevada’s food banks were pulled back last week then the USDA cancelled 40% of food deliveries ordered by the Nevada Department of Agriculture under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, funded by the federal Commodity Credit Corporation.

Three Square Food Bank ― which serves Clark, Lincoln, Esmeralda, and Nye counties ― was notified March 25 that about one million pounds of USDA food donations slated for the food bank had been canceled. Beth Martino, the CEO of Three Square Food Bank, said part of that delivery was funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation.

That same day, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada ― which serves about 160,000 Nevadans monthly across 12 counties ― was informed that 350,000 pounds of food they were expecting between April and August would be immediately canceled.

According to the Nevada Department of Agriculture 35 trucks of fresh food scheduled for delivery to Nevada’s food banks were abruptly canceled by the USDA. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada was slated to receive 12 of those trucks.

“This was additional food that we got through that program that, frankly, we need right now. The need is extraordinarily high at the food bank,” said Jocelyn Lantrip, the director of marketing and communications at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. “We’re helping 160,000 people every single month, which is about 76% higher than it was before the pandemic.”

In October, the USDA announced $500 million in additional funding to support food banks through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. That funding has now been canceled as part of an ongoing campaign to slash the federal budget, leaving Nevada with less food to fill its emergency food pantries.

A spokesperson for the USDA said that while the Emergency Food Assistance Program “continues to operate uninterrupted with more than $166 million spent in recent months” the additional half-a-billion in funding for the program has been terminated.

Asked to explain the rationale for ending the funding, the USDA, in a statement, said the additional $500 million in Commodity Credit Corporation dollars were announced by the Biden administration “without any plans for long-term solutions.”

The USDA said that despite terminating the additional funding for food banks the agency “has not and will not lose focus on its core mission of strengthening food security, supporting agricultural markets, and ensuring access to nutritious foods.”

The USDA recently cut federal funding for two other food assistance programs in Nevada, including about $8 million in funding for the Home Feeds Nevada program which allowed food banks to buy directly from local producers.

Before the funding was frozen last week, the food bank received about two million pounds of food through Commodity Credit Corporation funding over the last 12 months. If the funding is not reinstated the food bank anticipates it will lose roughly the same amount of food donations next fiscal year.

“The situation has gotten worse for many families so as far as the food bank is concerned, we don’t think it’s a great time to cut funding for food programs, because we’re seeing more need than we’ve ever seen,” Lantrip said.

A cascade of challenges

The Commodity Credit Corporation funding offered more meat and dairy to food banks than other federal commodity programs. The high-protein staples that come directly from USDA funding aren’t easily replaced by donations or other sources, Lantrip said.

“That’s what makes it so significant, because this type of food is harder to source. It’s more expensive,” Lantrip said. “Meat and protein items are always difficult for food banks to find, just because there’s less of that in the donation stream, and it’s more expensive to source if we’re purchasing.”

A diverse funding stream will allow the Food Bank of Northern Nevada to continue operating at its current capacity, but addressing wider USDA cuts to the food bank will be more difficult to overcome, said Lantrip.

“Replacing that food in the long term is the larger concern for us,” Lantrip said.

Other food pantry operators in Nevada said the cuts put yet another strain on nonprofits that are already trying to address high levels of need, leaving operators scrambling to quickly fill in gaps with their own funds, food purchases and donations.

The Community Food Pantry, which serves the Reno-Sparks area, said they would lose a third of their food deliveries due to the cuts. The food pantry has seen a 21% increase in the total number of clients visiting from the same time last year, an increase the extra dollars largely helped cover.

“The biggest drawback is that it brought in healthy foods. Potatoes, fresh veggies, and proteins ― whether it be milk or eggs or cheese,” said Barbara Monroy, the director of the Community Food Pantry.

“I’ve started to look around at other places where I could get food, because if the food bank doesn’t happen, I’ve got to find it somewhere else,” Monoy continued. “Right now we’re looking at applying for additional grants that aren’t government related, reaching out to donors, and trying to find other programs that might be able to fit the need.”

For the Community Food Pantry, the cut in USDA food donations adds to other financial issues brought on by inflation and higher operating costs for the nonprofit.

“Our car insurance went up 40% this year. It’s crazy that this is happening,” Monoy said.

Three Square Food Bank said the canceled shipments represent a small portion of the donations the food bank is expecting. Last year, Three Square distributed more than 41 million meals, the equivalent of more than 49 million pounds of food and grocery products.

But at a time when the cost of food and other basic needs continues to increase, and the threat that the increases could accelerate as a result of Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the loss of nutritional funding will be felt by low-income Nevadans.

News of the canceled deliveries also comes as Congress seems poised to further cut other safety-net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which gives low-income Americans money to buy food. The prospect of such additional cuts  only intensifies the need for nutrition assistance programs, Monoy said.

“The need hasn’t gone away since COVID, by any means,” Monoy said. “Just this last weekend we talked to several people in line and their SNAP benefits are $23 a month. I know another woman who gets $17 a month. That just doesn’t seem to be enough to help people when a dozen eggs is $11.”

Prices for all food are predicted to increase 3.2% this year, according to data from the USDA, and grocery store purchases are now 1.9% higher than this time in 2024. The overall annual inflation rate for 2024 was 2.9%.

Nevada’s workforce has also been slower to recover from the financial impact of the pandemic. Nevada currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 5.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Everybody’s feeling the pinch,” Monoy said. “It’s just the high cost of everything that’s forcing people into the pantry line.”