April 2, 2025
Ozarks Food Harvest announced this week that it will lose $3 million worth of food this year due to cuts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to the Springfield-based food bank, the USDA confirmed on March 28 that $500 million in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) food purchases, announced last year to be funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), have been permanently canceled.
Of that, Jordan Browning, director of communications for Ozarks Food Harvest, says there will be a $3 million food gap this year for local communities in southwest Missouri, where one in five children and one in six adults face hunger.
“With the increased cost of groceries and food insecurity at a 10-year high, Ozarks Food Harvest will face a challenging year to meet the increased demand for food across a third of the state of Missouri,” said Browning.
A local food bank, Crosslines Ministries Joplin, at 320 School Ave., is among the charities that helps distribute USDA TEFAP. Browning said Crosslines will be affected but did not have an estimate by how much.
Because of the expected shortfall, Ozarks Food Harvest is asking for donations on its website.
During April, known as National Safe Digging Month, the Missouri Public Service Commission reminds everyone that Missouri law requires anyone digging underground to notify Missouri 811 before excavation begins.
The Missouri 811 Call Center will notify all relevant utilities in the project area. Utility providers will then mark the approximate location of underground lines, request additional information or advise you that they do not have facilities at the excavation site.
Hitting an underground service line or natural gas line can cause serious injury or death, disrupt service to you and other customers, and potentially result in fines and repair costs.
Just call 811 or place a request at www.missouri-811.org.
The Webb City Sentinel isn’t a newspaper – but it used to be, serving Webb City, Missouri, in print from 1879-2020. This “newspaper” seeks to carry on that tradition as a nonprofit corporation.
© All Rights Reserved 2025
DIY website design by Bob Foos
