On a humid April afternoon at Wellspring Harvest in Springfield, Stanley Zalewski is in the midst of a rapid search for a backup plan to sell countless heads of lettuce and basil plants.
He doesn’t have a buyer for much of the upcoming summer harvest, as he was expecting.
This season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut $1 billion in two federal grant programs that had helped schools and food hubs pay for locally produced food. That’s left Massachusetts farmers scrambling in an already difficult-to-sustain industry — while the schools, food hubs, food pantries and food banks who got those grants grapple with an unfillable gap in fresh, local food.
Zalewski, a part owner of the co-op that boasts the largest urban greenhouse in the state, would usually sell cases of the deep green leafy lettuce to local schools and food hubs.
He’s quickly looking for buyers so he doesn’t end up losing money on wasted food. Zalewski said the business barely makes a profit, even with sales from the grants. Staff have been been meeting every week to brainstorm what to do next.
“I can’t sit here right now and tell you with confidence that we have a solution,” he said.
Since these cuts were announced in early March, farmers are considering worst-case scenarios including layoffs, loans, selling off assets and reduced hours for staff. Schools and food pantries plan to simply serve less fresh, local food to students and low-income residents.
“I feel like the rug has been pulled out from underneath us.”Harrison Bardwell, owner of Bardwell Farm in Hatfield
About 500 Massachusetts farmers have sold their products under these programs since 2022, with their local food going to 700 distribution sites, according to the state’s agricultural department.
The USDA now says the $18 million earmarked for Massachusetts were pandemic-era grants that “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency.” An agency spokesperson said in an emailed statement that it’s not an “abrupt shift.”
But Harrison Bardwell, owner of Bardwell Farm in Hatfield, said the cuts were very abrupt.
“I feel like the rug has been pulled out from underneath us and we have to start over on a portion of our sales,” he said.
Bardwell usually sells about $250,000 in produce to partners who, in turn, are funded by that grant money. That’s about 20 to 30% of his overall business. “It’s a large void if we can’t fill it,” Bardwell said.
Bardwell said he’s considering cutting back on products, finding new markets and trying to get into co-ops and grocery stores.
“We’re kind of in an unsettled moment of not knowing what to do next,” Bardwell said.
What this means for families and nonprofits
There are consequences on the buyers’ side, too. Like farmers, they’re struggling under the weight of the funding cuts — meaning those food organizations may shrink their staff, and households that indirectly rely on them might put less food — or less healthy food — on the table.
The Boston Area Gleaners spent more than $1 million in federal grant money with dozens of farms across the state, according to Dylan Frazier, director of operations and strategy. They spent more than $60,000 with Wellspring Harvest last year.
Now, the organization is facing layoffs and restructuring due to the cuts, and sourcing for food pantries and food banks will get tougher.
“It’s a lot of suffering,” he said.
The Salem Food Pantry got $500,000 in funding that will dry up in May. The money went straight to local farmers and covered 600,000 pounds of food, mostly eggs and milk, according to spokeswoman Kia Fernandes.
“We currently do not have a way to replace this funding and are anticipating a serious reduction in the amount of food we can provide,” Fernandes said in an emailed statement.
She said the pantry was planning to reapply for the grant next year, too. The Salem Food Pantry served 19,000 people in 2023 — nearly half of them seniors and children.
Schools can’t fill the gap either.
Littleton schools had spent their $10,000 in grant money to implement “Friday Try-Days” that encouraged students to try things like winter squash, spinach and mushrooms as well as self-serve produce stations that helped reduce their reliance on canned and frozen foods.
Coming into the 2025-2026 school year, the district was slated to receive even more grant funding — $25,000, according to the schools’ superintendent Kelly Clenchy.
The district will continue supporting local farmers with money from their general nutrition budget, but “it is realistic to expect that less food will be coming from our local family farmers,” Clenchy said in an email.
What comes next
While farmers fight to keep their businesses alive, elected officials are fighting, too.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, is trying to fight the cuts with public pressure, legislation and potentially lawsuits.
McGovern told GBH News farmers are “holding on by their fingernails.” His district of Worcester has the most farms in the state.
“I’m doing everything I possibly can. I mean, I think this is outrageous. I think it’s immoral, quite frankly, what they’re doing,” McGovern said.
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle is urging the federal Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, to honor all outstanding contracts to farmers.
Randle described the programs as a “win-win-win” and a “gamechanger” for farmers since they began in 2022.
“It does have devastating impacts.” Randle said of the cuts. “So for one farm, it could really put them on the brink of going out of business because of those financial uncertainties.”
The official funding deadline for the two grant programs is May 6 — meaning that, for many farmers, their last purchases from this grant money may come next week.
Back in the greenhouse at Wellspring Harvest, Zalewski said he got a spot at the East Longmeadow farmers’ market. He’s considering selling a basil lemonade. He admits a couple hundred bucks of lemonade won’t make up for the thousands in lost grant sales, but it’s a start.
“It makes you feel helpless, right? Because it’s like: You can put your best foot forward ... just to be completely curtailed by forces completely out of your control,” Zalewski said.
