Though Massachusetts is not one of at least six states that will lose out on $500 million in food deliveries promised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the leader of the region’s largest food bank remains concerned about future cuts.

Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, said a congressionally proposed reduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would affect families and individuals who are food insecure.

“Cuts to SNAP will increase the need for food for people with lower incomes already struggling to make ends meet and for people living on fixed incomes who rely on SNAP to help supplement getting groceries,” said Morehouse, who leads the Chicopee-based food bank that serves 193 local food pantries and meal sites across western Massachusetts.

Estimates show that Massachusetts SNAP recipients could see the average benefits, per person, per day, drop from $6.40 to $5. In the four westernmost counties, $35 million in federal money supports 194,000 individuals every month.

Morehouse said the economic impact extends beyond those who receive the benefits directly.

“Grocers, farmers and other businesses also rely on this economic activity to hire local people,” he said. “Without adequate funding, people needing food assistance and food suppliers will feel an impact.”

Demand for food assistance has also grown significantly over the last two years, including last October, when the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts served 142,000 people, the most ever served in one month in the organization’s history. In December, that number dropped to 119,000 people.

Meanwhile, Morehouse pointed to the end of the federal Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which provided funds to state governments to promote local farm food purchasing to address food insecurity. The state’s Department of Agricultural Resources recently received written notification that the subject agreement between the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and MDAR for this program is being terminated 60 days after March 7.

Both Grow Food Northampton, which got $300,000 to partner with River Valley Co-op on the Nourishing Our Community Project, and the Amherst Survival Center, which got $430,000 for its Farm to Pantry Project, were using the money to buy produce from socially disadvantaged farmers.

Though Massachusetts is not losing out on $500 million in USDA food deliveries right now, Morehouse is concerned about decisions being made by the Trump administration, including possible cuts to the USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program that provides about 20% of the food bank’s inventory annually.

Politico reported this week that the food deliveries were impacted as Trump was clawing back money from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a fund that gives the USDA a resource to financially assist farmers facing natural disasters or adverse market conditions.

That news story indicated the Central California Food Bank would be losing 500,000 pounds of expected food deliveries, worth $850,000, from April through July, while the Food Bank of Delaware was expecting 20 to 24 full truckloads of food to be canceled over that same timeframe.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.