Politics
USDA ends program that helped schools serve food from local farmers
The U.S. Agriculture Department is ending two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and producers.
About $660 million of that went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program. A separate program provided money to food banks.
In Maine, the money allowed the coastal RSU 23 school district to buy food directly from fisherman, dairy producers and farmers for school meals, said Caroline Trinder, the district’s food and nutrition services director.
“I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,” Trinder said. “It’s the least processed, and we’re helping our local economy, we’re helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.”
The cuts will hurt school districts with “chronically underfunded” school meal budgets, said Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association.
“In addition to losing the benefits for our kids, this loss of funds is a huge blow to community farmers and ranchers and is detrimental to school meal programs struggling to manage rising food and labor costs,” Gleave said in a statement.
USDA said the programs are a legacy of the pandemic and no longer supported the agency’s priorities.
“The COVID era is over — USDA’s approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement.
Massachusetts received roughly $12 million in federal funding for school districts and childcare programs to buy food from local producers.
“The signaling that’s coming out of Washington in recent weeks, it’s obviously deeply disappointing,” said Patrick Tutwiler, the state’s education secretary. “There’s clear misalignment around what is important and what matters. We are seeing this cut of the LFS program as a first step towards deeper cuts.”
School nutrition directors are bracing for potential rollbacks to programs that expanded funding for school meals, which for some children can be their only reliable source of food.
Proposed spending cuts to fund Republican’s tax bill include raising the poverty level needed for schools to provide universal free meals without an application. Restricting eligibility for food assistance programs and requiring income verification for free or reduced price school meals, two proposals for cutting costs, would also likely cut out eligible families from accessing food, the School Nutrition Association said.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced a $2 million grant for SeaPort Manatee to rebuild a dock and make other infrastructure improvements.
The project will lead to 300 jobs, DeSantis said during a press conference in Palmetto.
“We want to continue to make strong investments in ports like this one,” DeSantis said. “Florida, being a big Peninsula, you would imagine that seaports would be very, very important. … Florida seaports continue to grow, and that is evident here at SeaPort Manatee.”
It’s the Governor’s latest effort to highlight projects funded by Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. Earlier this week, DeSantis noted a $2 million state grant going toward expanding rail service to a Polk County industrial park.
At SeaPort Manatee, the Manatee County Port Authority investment will rebuild and repave South Dock Street, improve stormwater mitigation and make other infrastructure projects that help aerospace and automotive product manufacturer Honeywell, the Governor said.
Over the next five years, Honeywell plans to expand with a cold storage warehouse, a fuel terminal and a manufacturing facility, DeSantis said.
Already, Florida’s ports create about 1.2 million jobs and carry about $195 billion in economic value to the state — about 13% of Florida’s total GDP, DeSantis said Friday.
Manatee’s port at the mouth of Tampa Bay and the closest deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal plays a big role in Florida’s maritime industry, DeSantis said.
The port handles 400 million gallons of fuel, food, construction materials and more that gets sent across Southwest Florida and the rest of the country.
The $2 million grant comes as the area is recovering from back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue praised DeSantis and the additional funding as he stood next to the Governor at Friday’s press conference.
“If you look at Florida’s 16 deepwater seaports alone under the Governor’s tenure, we’ve invested over $1 billion dollars in seaport infrastructure,” Perdue said. “That’s truly incredible, and it’s really one of those things that has helped our economy continue to grow and thrive.”
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Ron DeSantis continues to struggle in 2028 Presidential Primary surveys, with a new poll showing DeSantis with his worst number so far.
The survey of Republican voters from Echelon Insights shows the Florida Governor with just 7% support nationwide.
That anemic number ties him for second place with two other candidates from last cycle: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.
Vice President JD Vance has 46% support, meanwhile.
Further back is another Florida man: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has 4%.
DeSantis performs best with senior citizens. He has 13% support among those 65 years of age and over. He’s also at 10% with those who attended graduate school.
Rubio finds his strongest backing among Hispanic voters, with 10% support.
Echelon polled 475 registered Republicans between March 10 and March 13.
DeSantis said last year that he hasn’t “ruled anything out” and that he will “see what the future holds.”
But so far, the future looks bleak.
A previous Echelon Insights survey conducted between Feb. 10 and Feb. 13 found the Governor of Florida at 10% support, 29 points behind Vance.
A January survey from McLaughlin & Associates showed DeSantis at 8%, behind Vance and Donald Trump Jr.
DeSantis was also at 8% in an Echelon Insights poll of the theoretical contest conducted last year, with Vance nearly 30 points ahead of him.
At a straw poll conducted at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, DeSantis mustered 7% support, finishing far behind Vance’s 61% and also behind Steve Bannon, whose 12% support surprised many observers.
As of now, DeSantis couldn’t win his home state, according to one survey.
A survey released exclusively to Florida Politics by Fabrizio Lee & Associates shows that Vance would defeat the Governor 47% to 33%.
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Doubt looms over the franchise’s future.
Florida’s Governor says MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wants to keep baseball in the Tampa Bay market amid uncertainty about the franchise’s future.
The Rays’ status is in some doubt. A stadium deal with St. Petersburg has fallen through, and the team will play at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field this season as repairs continue on Tropicana Field’s roof.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he had spoken to Manfred, who has given him “assurances” that “there is no way they want to leave Florida.”
“They’re committed to it working here because we have the fastest growing state. We have all the stuff going,” DeSantis said, adding that potential relocation of the Tampa Bay Rays “would not be a good look for Major League Baseball.”
Meanwhile, investors want to purchase the Rays. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch seemingly is receptive to new ownership, saying he wants a “collaborative and community focused baseball partner” this week.
DeSantis said Friday he is “just hoping that it works out for the folks here in the Tampa Bay area,” noting that the franchise has necessary ingredients for success.
“This is one of the most fastest growing markets in the country. It’s already a massive market. There is no way that it can’t be successful. And they’ve made really good baseball decisions over the years compared to some of these other teams that have had more bloated payrolls,” he said.
That said, DeSantis acknowledges that while “with really significant financial challenges, they’ve still been able to produce a good product and compete in a very difficult division … the fan (interest) and the attendance really hasn’t been there.”
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Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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