New York food banks are struggling to handle the fallout from what U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand described as President Donald Trump's "massive" cuts in funding that helps feed Americans in need.

Gillibrand on Wednesday outlined funding cuts to the nation's food banks. She said the Trump administration slashed $1 billion in federal funding dedicated to purchasing food for food banks and schools and child care centers that provide meals, and is canceling another $500 million in already approved funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which helps food banks and other emergency food providers.

"New York receives roughly $30 million through TEFAP each year in regular funding; this supplemental money would have funded additional food purchases at New York’s regional food banks and their partner soup kitchens and food pantries," Gillibrand said. 

She accused the Trump administration of denying food to hungry families. 

Feeding New York State, the state's association of food banks, estimated the "sudden and unexpected" cancellation of TEFAP funding will deprive New York of about 16 million pounds of food, or enough to provide more than 13 million meals to hungry New Yorkers.

"The impact will also be felt by farmers, who have just lost $500M worth of sales nationally," Egan said in a statement.

Buffalo-based FeedMore WNY said it received $4 million worth of food last year in TEFAP food purchases funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which have been canceled.

It said the termination of the funding will significantly impact its work to meet an increasing demand for food assistance at partner food pantries, soup kitchens and other agencies.

"In terms of the immediate impact, FeedMore WNY learned that twelve pending CCC orders, for delivery between May and August 2025, were canceled. Those twelve orders consisted of truckloads of food including chicken, turkey, pork, cheese, and eggs," a FeedMore WNY statement read.