A plan to bring locally produced food to your child’s lunchroom in Sturgeon Bay is being served with a side of uncertainty after a United States Department of Agriculture announcement earlier this week. Politico reported on Monday that the United States Department of Agriculture has axed two programs accounting for more than $1 billion that would have given food banks and schools money to purchase from local farms to meet their needs. Wisconsin was one of approximately 40 states that tapped into the program, allowing school districts to buy locally produced food from small farmers for its breakfast and lunch service. The funding helped food service directors like Sturgeon Bay’s Jenny Spude keep those federal funds local by working with businesses like Waseda Farms, Baileys Harbor Fish Company, Organic Valley, and others. She says those federal funds helped her develop relationships with those businesses that brought more nutritious, locally produced food into lunchrooms across the district at a more cost-efficient price.

Spude says further cuts to its school lunch program could make it difficult to keep meal prices affordable for families or continue to serve high-quality, nutritious items to students.