Schools across Franklin County are grappling with the loss of their portion of a $12.2 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that helps provide farm-fresh produce to Massachusetts students.

According to Gov. Maura Healey’s office, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was notified by the USDA on March 7 that the second round of grant funding for the Northeast Foods for Schools Program, as it is known in Massachusetts, would be terminated in 60 days because the agreement “no longer effectuates agency priorities.” Forty states had contracts with the USDA for the Local Food for Schools program.

One of the larger districts impacted is the Greenfield School Department, with at least $10,500 and as much as $12,500 cut for the 2025-2026 school year.

“This is highly disheartening,” Greta Shwachman, Greenfield’s food service director, wrote in an email Friday. “It means fewer new partnerships with local producers (and less money for food going directly back to the community), fewer opportunities for students to try things and not as many options to increase the quality of food on school lunch trays.”

The School Department was “fortunate to receive” $24,323 in Northeast Foods for Schools funds between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, Schwachman said. With this funding lost, Schwachman said it impacts students and the local food economy.

“We were able to purchase Little Leaf lettuce, Walden Local and Maine Family Farms beef, Ioka Valley Farms maple syrup, produce from Joe Czajkowski Farms and a variety of local dairy products, including Cabot yogurt and cheese, and hyperlocal milk from Our Family Farms,” Shwachman said.

Kelly Gilbert, food service director at Franklin County Technical School, said the district was given $2,300 for the current school year for fresh produce like corn and potatoes, but the cut canceled another $6,000 that was expected to be available next school year.

“Our school will still buy from the farms,” Gilbert said, adding that the district has a close relationship with farms in the area, “but the smaller schools will be impacted.”

One of these smaller schools impacted is Leverett Elementary School, which is one of four in Erving School Union 28. The school has 137 students in preschool through sixth grade, per DESE data.

Food Service Director Stephanie Conrod said the school has received Northeast Foods for Schools money over the past few years, and $1,000 for the upcoming school year was cut. She had received notification that the program would continue for the next school year just last week, only to find an email in her inbox on Tuesday stating that the program is being eliminated.

“When I saw that article, I was livid,” Conrod said in an interview Friday. She said this program has helped the school create relationships with local farms, and introduce children to new produce, like beets and cauliflower.

Conrod said the school has gotten produce from Warner Farm in Sunderland and Bardwell Farm in Hatfield, but the school has also been reimbursed for sour cream purchases from Cabot Creamery in Vermont and apples from a New York farm.

“It has a significant impact on our little school,” she said.

Darius Modestow, superintendent of the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts, wrote in an email that the impact is minimal for his districts, but each of the schools will lose funds. Conway Grammar, Sunderland Elementary and Whately Elementary schools will lose $1,000, while Frontier Regional School is out $1,247 and Deerfield Elementary School will lose $1,556.

Peter Cross, who chairs the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee, said the cuts will affect Mahar as well as Petersham Center School and Fisher Hill Elementary School. He said an email from Elizabeth Zielinski, superintendent of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts, stated Mahar could lose $3,556 to $4,347 while Petersham Center would miss out on $1,000 to $1,220 and Fisher Hill would lose $3,493 to $4,269.

Cross said Mahar gets apples from New Salem Preserves, mushrooms from Gardner, Little Leaf Farms lettuce from Devens, squash, carrots and beans from the Joe Czajkowski Farm in Hadley and real maple syrup from Auburn, in addition to apples and pears from Carlson Orchards and Massachusetts-caught fish and clams from Red’s Best. Cross, in agreement with Zielinski, said the cuts harm the local economy by taking money away from area farms and businesses.

“This is very sad and I don’t know how to stop it,” he said. “It’s just astonishing.”

Legislative reaction

In Massachusetts, Northeast Foods for Schools provided $3.5 million for the 2023-2024 school year, and another $9.1 million was expected to be provided for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. The funds allow for schools to provide local foods to students by either receiving reimbursement or advance payment for food purchases.

The funds are administered through DESE’s Food and Nutrition Programs, which partners with Massachusetts Farm to School, an organization that works with vendors like Marty’s Local to get produce from farms to the participating schools in Franklin County.

Gov. Maura Healey was one of the first state governors to respond to the USDA cuts, saying President Donald Trump and Elon Musk “have declared that feeding children and supporting local farmers are no longer ‘priorities,’ and it’s just the latest terrible cut with real impact on families across Massachusetts.”

State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, wrote in an email that this federal cut is “a lose-lose-lose” situation.

“Making locally grown, farm-fresh food accessible to students is a win-win-win. Our young people get more nutritious and delicious food at their schools, our farmers sell more, and our climate wins when we’re not importing the food we consume and exporting the food we grow,” Comerford said. “Unfortunately, the enormity of the Trump-led budget ravages will quickly outpace already stretched state resources. Like with all current federal threats, we will need a strong and unflinching local, state and national partnership — public and private — to weather this time.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231. Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120. Chris Larabee contributed reporting.