Second Harvest Food Bank in Springfield had a major federally funded food shipment cancelled in late March.
The organization is not alone.
The Foodbank Inc. in Dayton reported that 12 of their food orders were also cancelled.
"This is a total value of $349,000 worth of food and included items such as dried cranberries, eggs, pork chops, cheese, canned chicken, pulled pork, milk, chicken and turkey breasts," said Amber Wright, Marketing Lead for the Foodbank Inc., in a written statement. "There are no other anticipated cancelled loads between now and June 30."
"Those 60 partner agencies will probably receive less food from us. So, how are they gonna bridge that gap? I don't believe any of them have the budget to buy the food that we've been supplying them."
The Foodbank Inc. reports that a total of $2.5 million worth of food has been cut in for fiscal year 2026 and that dollar amount represents 9% of all food distributed by The Foodbank, Inc.
Their food streams that have been cut include
- the Commodity Credit Corporation, which provided $2 million worth of meat, dairy, and canned or dried foods for fiscal year 2025,
- the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, which provided $464,500 worth of locally sourced foods,
- and the Summer Feeding Program. "The Summer Feeding Program, this food went directly from The Foodbank to local schools and agencies that provide summer meals for kids" Wright said. "The total cut for next year is $19,198 worth of food."
The order cancellation for Second Harvest on March 26 and cuts to the Local Food Purchase Assistance program eliminated 378,222 meals for families across the region, according Andy Irick, Second Harvest executive director.
"It might've been four semi-loads canceled. That would be about 20 pallets of food."
That service region offers food to around 20,000 people annually in Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.
"Our food bank serves 60 partner agencies in the three county area. So some of those are in small towns," Irick said. "Those 60 partner agencies will probably receive less food from us. So, how are they gonna bridge that gap? I don't believe any of them have the budget to buy the food that we've been supplying them."
The shipment from the USDA was expected to arrive between May and August, providing essential items such as meats, milk, eggs and cereal.
"It might've been four semi-loads canceled," Irick said. "That would be about 20 pallets of food."
The food bank hasn’t been given any reasoning for the cancellation, Irick said.
“We've received very little communication other than 'your shipment in three weeks is canceled' and the most painful part of it is that it's really the nutritious food that we need," he said.
This is the third order cancellation that Second Harvest Food Bank has seen. Irick said on top of these losses, Second Harvest Food Bank is concerned about all of the cuts to state funding and it's asking lawmakers for more assistance.
“Our ask today is to hold steady at the $24.55 million and add $4.93 million for the inflation cost,” he said.
Wright said the Ohio Association of Food Banks is also pushing for more funding in the state operating budget to accommodate the 12 food banks it works with across the state.
"The Ohio Association of Foodbanks is advocating for a restoration of $4.93 million in the budget. If this amendment passes and is included in the budget, Ohio foodbanks will receive a total of $29.48 million in funding for food," she said. "The Foodbank, as one of 12 Ohio foodbanks, and the foodbank with the smallest service territory, receives 6.203% of the food purchased through these funds. This would be a win for all of us as it represents level funding for the money we have lost mentioned above."