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Due South

Federal funding NC school districts used to buy local produce is taken away

By Leoneda Inge,

Published May 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT

Students in the lunch line at Eastlawn Elementary School in Burlington. Alamance-Burlington Schools received $93,000 in federal funds to buy local food this year. That funding was set to grow, until the Trump administration canceled it.

A farmer who doesn’t know how much money he’s going to lose. School districts that don’t know how they’re going to afford local produce.

WUNC’s Education Reporter Liz Schlemmer recently reported on the changes coming after the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) ended a USDA program.

Guest

Liz Schlemmer, education reporter at WUNC

You can listen to the entire feature story here.

Due South

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

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Liz Schlemmer

Liz Schlemmer is WUNC's Education Reporter, covering preschool through higher education. Email: lschlemmer@wunc.org

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Cole del Charco

Cole del Charco is an audio producer and writer based in Durham. He's made stories for public radio's All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Marketplace. Before joining Due South, he spent time as a freelance journalist, an education and daily news reporter for WUNC, and a podcast producer for WFAE in Charlotte.

See stories by Cole del Charco