Frederick County Public Schools may lose some federal funding after the US Department of Agriculture canceled the Local Food For Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) in March.

The program sought to create strong food chain networks by providing states with funding that local governments could use to purchase produce from farmers in their communities.

Robert Kelly is FCPS’s Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) Director. The FNS is responsible for ensuring FCPS students receive healthy meals each day.

Kelly said the school system has participated in the program for over 11 years. In that time, FCPS has developed strong bonds with local farmers. “We are in the process of developing our menus around items they can process at various times of the year,” Kelly explained. “[The farmers] look to see what our needs are at Frederick County Public Schools.”

The FNS received close to $6 million in federal funds from the program on average, which accounts for approximately half of its total budget.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater expressed concerns over the impact these cuts may have in a budget announcement in April. “This hurts the one out of every three Frederick County Public School students who rely on free and reduced price meals.”

FCPS serves nearly 28,000 meals each day to a population of over 48,000 students. The National School Breakfast and Lunch Program is the program the school system uses to provide students with a meal if they can not afford one on their own.

Frederick is the fastest growing county in the state. Kelly says that more families means more students, which may be enough to make up for the loss of federal funds. “Our goal is to serve more meals to more students in the upcoming school year, which would increase our revenue source,” Kelly explained. “So that would offset that loss of funding from the program.”

Kelly says FCPS plans to continue its own local food source program despite the federal one being shut down.