There are huge uncertainties facing Pierce County food banks and the families they serve, Sue Potter, the chief executive officer of Pierce County’s Nourish food bank network, told The News Tribune Friday.
“I almost want to cry,” she said, tearing up as she described how local food banks are trying to maintain operations amid federal funding cuts and economic changes due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, she said.
According to a statement on the website of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, President Trump has cut more than $500 million from the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) budget through the United States Department of Agriculture, including $10.5 million that was previously allocated to Washington state. There are 94,000 people, including one in six children, in Pierce County who are food insecure, according to the county government . The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.”…