For over a decade, Karena Poke has dedicated her career to consulting on community gardens and agricultural education in Houston.
Through her Black-owned business, Lettuce Live Farms, she managed a vibrant community garden in Missouri City that became crucial during the pandemic.
Children from across the Houston area, facing social isolation and mental health challenges, flocked to the garden to engage in nurturing plants and vegetables.
The garden’s popularity soared to the point where Poke had to turn away some visitors.
In addition to her community work, Poke’s farm in nearby Dayton provided consistent produce to the Houston Food Bank, supporting the nutritional needs of thousands through its donation programs.
However, this success story has now been interrupted.
Recent cuts to vital USDA programs—including SNAP-Education, the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA)—have drained billions from the food system that previously aided small farms and charities.
Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump has emphasized his commitment to strengthening America’s economy and farming sector, promoting initiatives like tariffs and the controversial Big Beautiful Bill.
But in April, his administration announced sweeping cuts to the USDA budget, eliminating local and federal programs essential to many farmers.
While the White House claims these changes benefit farmers nationwide, the situation appears drastically different in Houston.
Programs introduced during the Biden administration, such as the food purchase assistance program—which emphasized diversity, equity, and inclusion—were among the first to be slashed by Trump’s administration.
Poke had intended to apply for the USDA-backed Farm to Early Care and Education program, which would facilitate the provision of food to daycare centers and preschools.
“The program has been canceled,” Poke laments.
Losing these opportunities, as well as the Houston Food Bank as Lettuce Live’s principal customer, has jeopardized her farm’s future.
“We’re struggling,” Poke admitted.
Jeremy Peaches, the owner of the Black-owned Fresh Life Organic Produce Co., also faces significant losses.
Although his farm did not depend on USDA grants and primarily served restaurants and local buyers, the LFPA once guaranteed food banks could purchase directly from farmers like him.
Now, with the elimination of that funding, Peaches forecasts a 40 percent drop in sales.
He recognizes how the USDA policy changes have severely impacted small and mid-sized farms.
Biden’s initiatives, such as the LFPA, greatly supported local farmers—especially in urban settings—but the recent funding cuts have resulted in significant setbacks for the urban farming movement, leading Peaches to declare that it has been “totally dissipated.”
The effects of these changes have also been catastrophic for the Houston Food Bank.
This charity, which distributes food to around one million people each year, previously purchased an estimated $8 million in produce and other goods annually from local farmers under USDA-supported programs.
However, due to a $500 million cut in assistance from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, the food bank is now forced to adapt to a bleak situation.
Brian Greene, president of the Houston Food Bank, stated that the cuts have resulted in a projected loss of over 20 million pounds of food and $3.5 million in distribution costs annually.
“This year, we’re not going to be able to distribute as much as we could last year,” Greene acknowledges.
A notable aspect of the Trump administration’s controversial legislation, the Big Beautiful Bill, was the elimination of all funding—amounting to $536 million—for SNAP-Education.
This program provided nutritional and public health education to non-profits, including food banks, nationwide.
In Houston, reductions in SNAP-Ed initiatives have led to job losses within the food bank, with Greene reporting that by September 30, 2025, 70 positions will be eliminated.
The impact of funding cuts has also reached Prairie View A&M University.
Dr. Jacquelyn White, who leads the university’s family and community health programs, heads several SNAP-Ed initiatives across 21 Texas counties.
Her federally funded workshops focus on chronic illnesses and nutrition, reaching thousands since the program’s inception in 2021.
These educational workshops are critical to the community, especially with the prevalence of food insecurity in Texas.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding funding, White remains optimistic about continuing the workshops.
“We are still going to teach. It may not be as widespread, but we will still continue to teach educational workshops,” she states.
While the Houston Food Bank adapts by relying more on its retail pick-up program, which sources donations from grocery chains like H-E-B and Randalls, Peaches encourages local farmers to seek new buyers among corporate clients or restaurant suppliers and to strengthen their community ties.
Poke is also exploring alternative methods to support her farm, though specifics remain vague.
“We understand that the odds may be against us oftentimes, and because the odds are against us, we just press. We just keep pressing,” Poke emphasizes.
“We find a way to make it work.”
image source from：houstoniamag
