Since Jan. 20, the Trump administration’s whirlwind of executive orders and administrative actions — and the flood of judicial rulings in response — have made it difficult to know where to direct our attention. At CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), we’ve been focused on the ways that local farmers, farmworkers, and our local food economy are under threat.

It’s impossible to say what the ultimate impact of these orders and actions will be. Many of these orders and actions reach beyond established executive branch powers and have been challenged in court, so the potential outcomes are changing by the minute. But we know that local farmers are already being affected.

At CISA, we’re hearing from farmers who have completed costly farm improvement projects and are learning their signed contracts with the USDA will not be honored, leaving them with considerable unplanned debt — so far, at least $7 million in committed funds for Massachusetts farms have been cut off. Farmers are spending their time calling USDA offices for answers, while USDA staff spend their time trying to navigate conflicting orders.

Most recently, we’ve seen a wave of firings of USDA staff, cutting out knowledgeable professionals and leaving local offices even more unequipped to respond to farmers’ needs. These losses are devastating.

USDA programs do more than support farm viability and rural development. Newer programs are designed to address the most pressing issues of our time, including climate change, racial inequities in agriculture, and hunger.

As part of a USDA Climate Smart Commodities Program grant, CISA staff have been working with local farmers to develop plans for climate change adaptation, which came with the promise of up to $45,000 per farm in the first year to cover the cost of implementing new practices. As the Trump administration works to undermine climate protections, funding for this program has been cut off, along with all the work and hopes farmers have put into it.

Local farmers have seen the early impacts of climate change and the millions of dollars of crop loss that extreme weather events bring. They need research, applied expertise, and funding to adapt their growing practices and land use so their businesses can survive, and they can keep producing food to feed us all.

Federal agricultural programs, including loans, grants and technical assistance, have a documented history of racially discriminatory administration, and the consequences of that history are visible today in the makeup of the agricultural sector. The USDA has established some programs designed to ensure that services are available to people who might previously have been turned away.

These projects, serving hardworking people who want to grow food to feed their communities, represent the DEI boogeyman the Trump administration is aiming to eliminate. CISA will not back away from naming the inequities in our food system and working with local leaders and communities to address them.

SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is also facing cuts, most recently proposed at up to 23% of its funding. One in five Massachusetts households face food insecurity, and hunger levels have been on the rise. SNAP dollars are an essential part of our social safety net, and they have even more impact for both families and local farms in Massachusetts where HIP, the state’s Healthy Incentives Program, provides a rebate on produce purchased from participating local farms. Cuts to SNAP will leave millions of Americans, including millions of children, hungry.

Immigration policy also has enormous impacts on our local food system. President Trump has signed numerous executive orders, many with a questionable legal basis, that seek to expand detention and deportations, remove due process protections, and strip work authorization from many lawful immigrants. These orders continue a long pattern of villainizing immigrants with false narratives of criminality.

While we haven’t yet seen an increase in immigration enforcement locally, we have already heard many stories of local farmworkers, citizens and non-citizens alike, fearing for their safety in this environment, and many farm owners are concerned about the impacts of increased immigration enforcement. CISA stands with local farm businesses and farmworkers, and we denounce these harmful actions and narratives.

CISA’s ongoing work is in support of a local food system where farmers and farmworkers earn enough money to live securely, where the land and water that support us are managed with care, and where every member of our community has access to culturally appropriate, nourishing local food. Our tax dollars, and the federal programs they fund, are an essential piece of this puzzle and we hope you will give some attention, amid the chaos of this moment, to what our region stands to lose.

This affects all of us and transcends political parties, so talk to your friends and family about these losses and what they mean to you. Reach out to your legislators to communicate how important robust federal programs are to our local food system. And please, buy local. Our local farms and our local economy need your support.

Jennifer Core is executive director, and Claire Morenon is communications manager, at CISA (Community involved in Sustaining Agriculture).