At the Worcester County Food Bank, pallets of food wrapped in plastic line the walls of its main warehouse in Shrewsbury. Half of that food used to be sourced from the federal government; now just a fraction is.
Jean McMurray, who leads the Worcester County Food Bank, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently cancelled thousands of dollars in food shipments to their food bank. They include items like fresh milk, cheese, meat, and eggs.
To make up the loss, McMurray and her staff dug into their reserves to buy food. They got it done, but McMurray knows that it will be harder to do next time. And it’s not clear what future federal government shipments might look like…