PITTSBURGH — As the founder of a local food startup negotiating a full range of small business challenges, Simon Huntley knows a warning sign when he sees one.
After his Lawrenceville-based Harvie was approved for a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture last May through its Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program, Huntley has new reason to doubt his company will ever get the money. News breaking from various published reports say that the administration of President Donald J. Trump and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are cutting more than $1 billion in USDA programs.
Various reports detail the USDA is poised to make $660 million in cuts for the Local Food for Schools program for 2025 as well as cut the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which was expected to put about $500 million into supporting food banks this year.
While neither program was to provide his grant funding, Huntley has learned to not expect much, especially given Harvie was supposed to have received the $1 million grant appropriation last July, an award for which his company had been prepared to pony up $1 million in matching funds.
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