A Food Bank In Kern Lost Millions Of Dollars Due To Cuts To The Department Of Agriculture, Leading To Increased Food Insecurity In David Valadao’s District

The Community Action Partnership Of Kern Food Bank Stated They Were Losing $4.5 Million Dollars Worth Of Emergency Food Assistance Program Funding Due To Cuts To The Department Of Agriculture. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting back $1 billion in funding and that is hitting Kern. ‘The USDA bonus loads that we get through our TEFAP program have been cancelled.’ said Susana Magana with CAPK, ‘This equates to right around 3.5 million pounds and $4.5 million dollars.’ The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, is funded by USDA. The Community Action Partnership of Kern, known as CAPK’s food bank, already has lost 13 scheduled USDA deliveries.” [KGET, 3/27/25]

• A Representative Of The Food Bank Said That The Cuts Would Lead To Increased Food Insecurity And Cause Problems For Over 250 Distribution Sites. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting back $1 billion in funding and that is hitting Kern. ‘The USDA bonus loads that we get through our TEFAP program have been cancelled.’ said Susana Magana with CAPK, ‘This equates to right around 3.5 million pounds and $4.5 million dollars.’ The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, is funded by USDA. The Community Action Partnership of Kern, known as CAPK’s food bank, already has lost 13 scheduled USDA deliveries. Hunger continues to grow in Kern. ‘From 2023 to 2024 we’ve seen a 200% increase.’ said Susana Magana, ‘So we were seeing right around 120,000 people a month, and now we’re at about 200,000. Those lines are just going to get longer, and longer. Food insecurity is going to increase.’ […] ‘We have a network of about 250-300 partners that are churches and other organizations that do the distribution, so those organizations are going to be affected and obviously we serve the entire county,’ said Magana.” [KGET, 3/27/25]

The Community Action Partnership Of Kern Office Was Located At 1300 18th Street, Suite 200 Bakersfield, CA 93301 Which Was In Valadao’s District. [CAPK, Contact, accessed 5/19/26; Congress.gov, Find Your Representative, accessed 5/19/26]