In 2023, 47.4 million Americans faced food insecurity. These rates have only increased over the past two years, causing food banks and public pantries to handle unprecedented demand. Food insecurity is not the only problem Americans face: inflation goes hand-in-hand with this crisis. Inflation is inescapable in our grocery stores as prices skyrocket; the average Californian price of a dozen eggs last month was an exorbitant $8.84. President Donald Trump along with his senior advisor, businessman Elon Musk, have vowed to decrease inflation by cutting federal spending, rationalizing these cuts with strengthening “government efficiency.” This month, the administration has taken a particular interest in defunding public food programs — a move that threatens to effectively dissolve programs for Americans who can no longer afford groceries now burdened by tariffs and rising prices.  

The Trump Administration has honed in on eliminating two assistance programs: The United States Department of Agriculture’s The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA). TEFAP provides low income Americans with free groceries and the LFPA buys food from local, underserved farmers and distributes it to programs such as food banks. Both of these programs are crucial to addressing food insecurity in America, and ensuring citizens have access to basic needs like nourishment has the potential to boost the economy. To put it bluntly: the American population must be fed in order to work. 

The A.S. Food Bank hours are listed outside of the University Center.

Here, at UC Santa Barbara, we have our own food bank on campus: the Associated Students Food Bank. The food bank was founded in 2011 and currently feeds over 25% of the entire UCSB student population. Their mission is to “tackle food insecurity on campus while continually raising awareness on issues surrounding food, sustainability, and social justice.” They do this by offering their pick-up pantry in the University Center, providing online order bags and supplying meal vouchers. Additionally, they have collaborated with Eco Vista, an environmental community organization, to create a recipe book using eco-friendly food provided by the A.S. Food Bank.  foodbankfoodbank asfoodbank

Funding for food banks is not the only expenditure Trump and Musk have deemed inefficient and fiscally irresponsible. The Trump Administration has also dabbled in defunding top public research universities. On April 14, Trump froze $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University after their incompliance to President Trump’s university policy changes attempting to limit activism on campus. This executive action is a threat to higher education across the U.S. Other elite universities like Columbia, Northwestern and Brown have been accused of “ideological indoctrination” according to The New York Times, resulting in the stripping of federal financial aid. The reasons for defunding remain vague: the administration has accused Harvard of tolerating antisemitism, although this has been perceived as hypocritical considering Musk’s nationwide-broadcasted Nazi salute just months ago. The ideological goal of the party seems difficult to pin, thus making it difficult for universities to please its political leaders. UCSB’s future of federal funding is also at risk. In 2023, UCSB received $186.9 million in federal funding. Although the majority of this money is allocated to the school’s research programs, if taken away, tuition may no longer cover resources like our food bank. 

The defunding of vital resources, schools and food assistance programs will ultimately have detrimental effects to our economy and democracy.  The A.S. Food Bank is facing future uncertainty for the first time in its existence. Will the program — and others like it — still exist in four years? With the growing and dramatic bureaucratic policy changes in the last four months, there is undoubtedly cause for concern. So, take advantage of the resources we have now: visit the A.S. Food Bank this week!

A version of this article appeared on p. 8 of the May 15th, 2025 print edition of the Daily Nexus.