GREENFIELD — In his address to food cooperative members at the 14th annual Neighboring Food Co-op Association meeting, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern rallied his constituents to fight back against federal cuts to food and agriculture programs under the Trump administration.

Cooperative members from across New England gathered at Greenfield Community College’s Cohn Family Dining Commons Saturday morning, where McGovern, the keynote speaker, discussed challenges local food organizations face amid budgetary and staffing cuts to federal programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is run by the United States Department of Agriculture.

“The most charitable thing you can say about the Trump appointees running USDA is that they don’t understand the value of local food. But to be honest, I’m not feeling very charitable to it right now,” McGovern said. “We are witnessing a concerted effort to starve out independent farmers and dismantle local food systems. Funds that rightfully belong to farmers have been frozen without any legal basis or even feigned rationale. ... Just this week, USDA told states that local food purchasing program agreements were being pulled with no warning at all.”

McGovern referenced a budget resolution that passed in the House of Representatives last week that he said cuts SNAP benefits significantly, reducing the average SNAP benefit per meal from roughly $2 to $1.60.

Referring to the onslaught of legislation and policy produced by the current presidential administration, McGovern said he considers the volume of drastic changes to be a distraction tactic, and encouraged local farmers and co-op members to advocate for equitable food access.

“Trump is using a tactic very deliberately that authoritarians and fascists have used throughout history; that is, they flood the zone with a million things. You turn on the news and your head wants to explode, because it’s everything from cutbacks and layoffs in USDA, the cutbacks in the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, to cutbacks in [Veterans Affairs] to attacking [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy,” McGovern said. “The goal of that tactic is to overwhelm people and to get people to feel hopeless and helpless, pull the shades and just retreat. That’s what’s going on right now.”

In his roughly 30-minute speech, McGovern said that more than $2 billion of the food sent to aid foreign countries facing hunger was grown in the United States.

When George Touloumtzis, who serves on the Greenfield Planning Board and is a member of the Franklin Community Co-op board of directors, asked McGovern if he knew of any legal threats to the food cooperative model, McGovern responded that while there were no federal threats to cooperatives that he was aware of, the administration has made him “paranoid.”

“We haven’t heard anything on the national level that I think poses a direct threat to co-ops, but I don’t think we could just assume if we don’t hear anything that somebody’s not thinking of something mischievous to do there. We have to be alert to anything that looks like it’s moving in a direction or may be harmful to this movement,” McGovern said. “Continue to organize at the state level and continue to make sure that our state officials appreciate your presence and your resistance, because I think that is also very helpful.”

McGovern’s speech preceded a report from Neighboring Food Co-op Association Executive Director Erbin Crowell, who outlined the organization’s priorities of advocacy, growth and inspiring new leaders. He echoed McGovern’s remarks to note that co-ops must unite to feed the hungry.

“This is a moment for solidarity. ... I’ve always believed that food is so many things beyond just nourishment,” Crowell said. “First and foremost, it’s a human right. It’s also an economic lifeblood, a community builder and a tool of creative expression.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.