Centering Colorado communities & solutions, always
Response to cancelled federal investments in children, families, farmers & schools
March 13, 2025
At the end of 2024, we celebrated the sudden announcement of a critical $1.13 billion investment in local food systems via the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs. These efforts promised to bring more locally produced food into schools, child care centers, and food banks and pantries while strengthening our rural economies by supporting local farmers and ranchers.
Now, this progress will evaporate due to an announcement from the Trump Administration to cancel these crucial investments.
At the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, we find this action not only contradictory, given the administration’s supposed intent to “Make America Healthy Again,” but more so detrimental to the well-being of families and children across our state and country. Undermining local farm economies and withdrawing support for fresh, nutritious food in schools, food banks, and food pantries is a clear step backward.
It raises a clear line of concern: Coloradans contributed roughly $10 billion more in federal taxes than our state received in 2022, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Stark evidence shows how our tax dollars are increasingly diverted away from constructive initiatives that build our communities—like local food programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), public health efforts, and federal research—and funneled instead toward increased military budgets and aggressive immigration enforcement. These federal funding decisions neither support our values or priorities nor demonstrate a sound commitment to making America more healthy and resilient.
Despite these setbacks, we remain steadfast in our commitment to building solutions together. As part of our organizational commitments, we promise to:
Convene collaborators around shared priorities:
We’ll continue to bring people together—across sectors and the state—to align around shared goals and amplify our collective voice. As we push back against harmful fiscal policies, we’ll stand with partners needing to protect their own vital work while ensuring community priorities are uplifted and advanced together.Support local solutions to local problems:
We’ll deepen our community connections by working hand-in-hand with local partners, farmers, and advocates to strengthen community food systems that are grounded in local wisdom and expertise. Regardless of what the federal government does, we’ll still help cultivate local leadership and infrastructure that meets the unique needs of Colorado communities—because solutions rooted in place are the most effective and resilient.
Strengthen resources & build capacity:
We’ll continue to share tools, knowledge, and resources to help Colorado communities establish more self-reliant and robust food systems locally. We’re here for community-based organizations, food coalitions, and others working in food justice, so they have the support they need to adapt, thrive, and ensure there’s equitable and consistent access to nourishing food for all, today and tomorrow.Champion bold policy change:
We’ll shine a clear light on contradictions and speak out against unjust policy proposals and decisions. We’ll also educate and empower Coloradans to advocate for their own interests, to question how federal tax dollars are used, and to hold leaders accountable for decisions that impact their families and neighbors without a clear, articulated vision as to how these changes make Colorado stronger.
We reiterate our stance to demand a federal agenda that genuinely fosters health, well-being, and prosperity—and also invests in schools, farmers, and families—alongside other advocates, policymakers, and community members. Now, more than ever, we must stand together to reclaim our federal investments for the benefit of all Coloradans and ensure our food systems and communities weather these storms.
In solidarity,
Dolores Ramirez & Joël McClurg
Co-Executive Directors