Agency: USDA school nutrition programs, summer meals and TFAP continue; some local food grants were cut

Agency of Education officials told the House Appropriations Committee Thursday that the large USDA child‑nutrition portfolio — school lunch, child care feeding, fresh fruit and vegetable programs, and summer food service — is still operating and, as of the committee meeting, had not been cut at the program level.

"None of these programs have been cut to date either, and we haven't seen any action by Congress for any rule changes," Anne Borenaro, Division Director for Federal and Education Support Programs, said during the hearing. She and Interim CFO Sean Cousinoe described how USDA funds move to schools, child care providers and food banks and identified a few targeted discretionary grants that were not renewed.

The agency said its fiscal documents list $34,000,000 in USDA nutrition funding within the agency budget. It also listed $3,500,000 as nonmonetary USDA commodities that the agency manages and sends to food banks.

Committee members sought clarity about TFAP, the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, and why it passes through the Agency of Education rather than the state Department of Agriculture. Borenaro explained that USDA purchases certain commodities and that the agency has an administrative allocation and discretion to subgrant some TFAP food to food banks. "TFAP is specifically for food banks," she said. Agency staff confirmed that some USDA grants — including a Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant — were awarded directly to schools by USDA and therefore do not appear on the state's spreadsheet.

Members also asked about "cash in lieu," which allows small child‑care providers to receive the cash equivalent instead of in‑kind USDA commodities. Borenaro said the cash must be used for allowable food‑related costs: "It's cash to buy food as opposed to cash to go do something else," she said, explaining that programs choose cash because it can be more practical for small providers.

On summer operations, the agency said the Summer Food Service Program was not affected by the late‑liquidation waiver issue: "The summer food service program is not impacted by this waiver issue. So the summer food service program will be running at full steam this summer," Borenaro said, adding that many sites qualify as open sites by poverty rates and that Summer EBT — the permanent program that began during the pandemic — also has agency approval to continue.

Agency staff noted a few USDA discretionary local‑food grants were not funded in recent federal actions; those awards either operated through other state departments or were direct awards from USDA to districts and therefore do not show in the Agency of Education spreadsheet.

Ending: Agency staff said nutrition programs are broadly in place for summer 2025, and that they will check back with committee members if operational or reimbursement delays arise due to reduced federal regional staffing.