Ed Cohen, owner and operator of certified organic farm Earthly Edibles in Korbel, gives a tour of the operation to a group of kids. | File photo courtesy of Ed Cohen.

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The state of California recently agreed to set aside $15 million in funding for local food assistance, aiming to replace one purchasing program that was cut by the federal government last year.

North Coast food advocates are hoping this will mean the partial return of a system that funneled locally produced grub to food pantries.

Still, the funds aren’t expected to replace the full volume of cash previously pumped in by the federal government, and it’s only guaranteed for a year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) provided Food for People, Humboldt County’s food bank, $360,000 per year in funding they’d use to buy local food and distribute it across pantries. Multiple local tribes received additional funds to purchase locally produced food.

The contract ended in Humboldt County following a federal announcement it would eliminate the program, as other initiatives targeting food insecurity were similarly cut.

The elimination of the program was a blow for organizations that relied on the food and farmers who grew crops and livestock for the purchasing agreement.

“We are, across the board, seeing lower orders because of the cuts to those programs,” said Megan Kenney, Harvest Hub director for the North Coast Growers’ Association, which sourced the food for the LFPA.

She said the funds provided people with nutrient-dense food. Plus, the purchases had a high economic multiplier because the funds were re-circulated inside the region.

Another program, the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, was cut at the same time. It meant an end to fresh food for a dozen Humboldt County school districts. In total, over a million dollars used to provide people with fresh food and support farmers locally was eliminated.

California received $88 million in federal funding for the program since it began.

In a budget bill last month, Governor Gavin Newsom included $15 million to keep the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program afloat. It’s too soon to say when or how the state funds will roll out. However, Kenney feels confident they will get a contract again.

“We will probably receive less funding than we did before, but any money’s good money,” she noted.

According to the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, among organizations that lobbied for the funding in the state budget, the amount is about a third of what advocates were pushing for. The funds will only be able to sustain the program for about one year, according to Policy Director Jamie Fanous.

Carly Robbins, executive director of Food for People, said the organization is currently waiting on more word on the program.

“We haven’t yet received details on how this program might differ from the federal one. We don’t know how it will be administered and what allocation we might get,” she said in an email.

Cuts to food programs under the Trump Administration have been wide ranging.

The largest food and nutrition assistance program in the country was slashed in H.R. 1, enacted July 2025. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is down by more than 4 million people nationwide, according to think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Cuts to food programs intended to support low-income people are particularly impactful in Humboldt County. About a fifth of adults in Humboldt County are enrolled in SNAP, while about 15% of the population uses Food for People each month.

Kenney said programs to beef up local food production is particularly meaningful locally, with the relative isolation of the North Coast. As the organization was creating the Harvest Hub, disasters had stricken multiple key points of entry to the region, while COVID-19 supply chain issues plagued grocery stores.

“We want to make sure we have enough food in our community when these disasters happen,” she said.