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A Washington food pantry is beginning to feel the effects of recent federal budget cuts at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Eagle’s Wings, located on Third Street, is one of the largest food pantries in the Inner Banks. Its mission is to combat food insecurity throughout Beaufort County. It currently serves more than 500 households which equates to approximately 3,000 people. 

Eagle’s Wings receives most of its food donations from the Food Bank of the Albemarle which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and affiliate with Feeding America that serves 15 counties in northeastern North Carolina – including Beaufort County. Feeding America is a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs. 

The food bank receives funding from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA). 

In March, the federal government announced it would cancel food deliveries to food banks that were previously available through TEFAP. The cuts stem from the Department of Government Efficiency’s plan to “return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives,” USA TODAY reported. 

TEFAP provides food at no cost to income families and individuals. The USDA purchases food then makes it available to state distributing agencies. 

“The amount of food each state agency receives is based on the number of unemployed persons and the number of people living below the poverty level in the state/territory, ” the USDA website shares. “State agencies provide the food to local agencies that they have selected, usually food banks, which distribute the food to local organizations that directly serve the public, such as soup kitchens and food pantries. State agencies also provide the food to other types of local organizations, such as community action agencies, which distribute the foods directly to individuals. These local organizations distribute USDA Foods to eligible recipients for household consumption or use them to prepare and serve meals.” 

In the same month, the USDA announced it would pull more than $1 billion in funding from the LFPA. The agreement paid farmers to provide fresh vegetables and fruits to food banks and schools, which helped local farmers and offered nutritious food to students and citizens, USA TODAY reported. 

Because of these cuts, Food Bank of the Albemarle Executive Director, Liz Reasoner, her  organization is expected to lose $1 million in USDA funding which equates to about 500,000lbs of food, as of March of 2025.

 For Eagle’s Wings, this means deliveries from the food bank are lean compared to previous years, Vanessa Love said. Love is the executive director of Eagle’s Wings. 

“They have to minimize what they’re giving. It will trickle down to us as well,” Love said, referring to how much the Food Bank of the Albemarle is able to give. 

Love said it’s difficult to provide actual numbers on how much food Eagle’s Wings will be given compared to previous years, because the food pantry “never knows” the exact amount of pounds of food they will get from the food bank. “Every month is on a case by case basis, even prior to the federal cut back,” Love said. 

She continued to explain that the food bank places caps on the pounds of food, food pantries can receive once they hit or surpass 500 households. “We are already capped,” Love said. “We could not get any more food. So even if we had 100 new clients, we would not be able to get more food from the food bank. We would have to go purchase food on our own.” 

Eagle’s Wings has been purchasing food as of late to lessen gaps in what they are able to get from the Food Bank of the Albemarle.

Eagle’s Wings receives money from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program which is another USDA program. It aims to provide nutritious food to low-income citizens over the age of 60. At this time, it is unclear if this program will see a reduction in future funding. 

For now, Love and volunteers are working to make sure the food boxes clients at Eagle’s Wings receive are stocked just as full as they were before the federal funding cuts were announced.  

To keep the food boxes looking the same, this means applying for more grants, asking for more donations (both monetary and non-perishable food items) from the community and improving food preservation methods to keep a collection of food longer. 

Though she has applied for and received smaller grants, those grants total $5,000; however, “that doesn’t create a big enough dent or impact,” Love said. Eagle’s Wings is collaborating with United Way of the Inner Banks to find grant money. 

Monetary donations from the community have recently declined, Love continued to explain. “We have experienced a decline in that, and that’s because we’re aware that other people are struggling as well…The middle class is suffering as well.” 

Eagle’s Wings has several golf tournaments and a canned food drive planned for this year to increase donations. 

A challenge Eagle’s Wings faces amidst federal budget cuts is feeding a higher volume of clients. Due to the cost of groceries increasing because of inflation, Eagle’s Wings is starting to see more clients who are younger. Also, in the summer months Eagle’s Wings sees more clients, because children are out of school. This means trying to feed more people with less resources. 

Love said other local food pantries are also seeing leaner food truck deliveries. If the Food Bank of the Albemarle has an extra food supply, they will ask Eagle’s Wings to take the food. Eagle’s Wings will then distribute the excess to other food pantries or soup kitchens that need it. Any large food items (like hams and turkeys) that cannot fit into their own food boxes go to soup kitchens or shelters where they are cooked and served to clients.