North Carolina Farmers and Families Are Left Hungry by Trump and Rouzer's Cuts

In Southeastern North Carolina, the farmers, families, and food banks that make up the backbone of District 7 are watching the lifelines they rely on get cut off — and their congressman, David Rouzer, isn’t lifting a finger to stop it.

Last week, the Trump administration slashed nearly $30 million in federal food program funding to North Carolina, including over $18 million from the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program and $11 million from the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. These funds supported school nutrition, childcare meals, and food banks that source produce and proteins from local farms — many of which are still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.

This was ground beef for Brunswick County school lunches. It was apples and squash from Pender County farms. It was $90,000 to Buncombe County Schools and $19,000 to Asheville City Schools, with even more expected — until it vanished.

The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which covers many counties in Rouzer’s district — including Bladen, Columbus, Sampson, Robeson, and part of Cumberland — said the cuts are a direct blow to their ability to keep shelves stocked. “We’re not meeting the need right now,” said CEO Amy Beros. “And it’s worse than it’s been in 20 years”.

This was supposed to be a “Make America Healthy Again” moment. Trump signed an executive order to create a commission on improving childhood nutrition. But within weeks, his administration canceled the very programs doing just that. So while the rhetoric is all about health and efficiency, the reality is kids in southeastern North Carolina are losing access to fresh food.

And the farmers? They're being left out to dry. In Columbus County, Ethan Jordan lost nearly all his crops — 900 acres of corn, 350 acres of peanuts, and 350 acres of soybeans — to drought and flooding. The USDA owes him $77,000 in disaster aid that hasn’t arrived because of a federal freeze on payments. “We’re going to lose our house to the bank,” he says. Meanwhile, Rouzer offers no answers, no pressure, no advocacy. Just silence.

The Trump-Rouzer alliance isn't just gutting food programs. It's demolishing the very capacity to deliver them. With nearly 6,000 USDA workers laid off by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, North Carolina’s farm support services are paralyzed. Staff at local Farm Service Agency offices in Bladen and Sampson counties say they’ve been inundated with desperate calls from farmers, but they can’t help — they’re being muzzled and dismantled from the top down.

These attacks aren’t just cruel. They’re strategic. Slash support for rural farmers. Choke out food security infrastructure. Privatize what’s left. Turn public programs into political hostages. That’s the game being played, and David Rouzer is complicit every time he refuses to speak up or take action.

This isn’t just a policy dispute — it’s an existential threat to the people of District 7. From the farmland of Sampson County to the food banks of Robeson, from school cafeterias in Brunswick to childcare centers in New Hanover, real people are going hungry because Washington politics have declared them expendable.

We need representatives who will fight for us, not fall in line. Who will prioritize children’s nutrition, farmers’ survival, and rural community health over party loyalty. Who understand that feeding our communities is not wasteful spending — it’s the very foundation of a just and functioning society.

So ask yourself this: Who’s feeding our kids? Who’s keeping our farmers afloat? And where the hell is David Rouzer?

Hold Rouzer accountable. Call 202-225-2731 and DEMAND ANSWERS!