Columbia Pacific Food Bank welcomes visitors at 1421 Columbia Blvd. in St. Helens. (Courtesy Photo: Columbia Pacific Food Bank)

The Trump administration’s plans to halt support to food banks nationwide will have significant impacts on those in need in Columbia County.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that it will cancel $500 million in shipments to food banks across the country, cutting off a critical supply chain for food banks and schools nationwide. The cuts are being felt locally at the Columba Pacific Food Bank, which distributes food to food pantries, meal programs and produce distribution points throughout Columbia County and operates a food pantry in St. Helens.

According to executive director Casey Wheeler, 38% of the food distributed by the Columbia Pacific Food Bank in a year comes from the USDA. The recent cancellations and freezes will impact about 20% of that amount, or about 41 tons of food.

Fewer shipments will mean emptier shelves and hungrier bellies for those in need. Milk, eggs, and frozen meat like pork, chicken and turkey will stop coming from the USDA starting in May, Wheeler said. The agency will also stop supplying produce, which means the food bank won’t be able to offer the same variety of fruits and vegetables as it has in the past.

“We are in the process of determining how we will try and fill some of the gap created by this reduction in our food supply,” Wheeler said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the USDA told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the “Biden Administration created unsustainable programming and expectations,” which necessitated the cuts.

But the cuts are coming at a time when one in every six people in Columbia County is facing food insecurity, Wheeler said. That number increases among the county’s youngest residents, with one in five children in Columbia County lacking secure access to food.

The total number of pantry visits exceeded 16,000 in 2024, Wheeler said, representing a 20% increase in those seeking support form the food bank in the past year. Families were limited to one food box per month.

Moving forward, the Columbia Pacific Food Bank will focus on finding ways to continue providing essentials to those in need. Wheeler said the Food Bank will have to dip into its emergency budget to make sure a steady supply of basic shelf stable items are available, but some more expensive items, such as meat or eggs, will likely not be offered.

“The milk, eggs and frozen meat are outside of our budgetary ability to backfill,” Wheeler said.

Community members can help by donating to help support the food bank. Food donations are always welcome, Wheeler said, but cash donations are especially useful, as the food bank is able to use those funds to purchase nearly quadruple the amount of food through its channels as community members can purchase at the grocery store.

Those with a green thumb can help by planting a row for the food bank this summer.

“We appreciate everyone’s support in the past, and with your continued help, we will continue to assist those in need of food,” Wheeler said.

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Oregon Public Broadcasting, a news partner of this publication, contributed to this report.