at improving food axis is in jeopardy as a Trump administration cuts off federal support.

The latest cuts and reimbursements to local food purchase assistance program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers and Food Banks across Illinois now face uncertainty as planting season approaches.

Joining us is Capitol News, Illinois State House reporter Ben Solensky.

Thank you for joining us.

Ben, let's get straight to it.

Can you just explain how the local food purchases since program works and who is it aimed at supporting?

>> Yeah.

People probably know this program more commonly known as Illinois Eats.

And basically this is a program for both farmers and people who are in need of food.

People who struggle find food, especially healthy food.

So this program essentially provides reimbursements to state of Illinois to cover grant program for Illinois farmers to provide fresh food and vegetables to only food banks and other places where people can access food.

the real kicker with this program is it's designed to help people who have a hard time finding food.

They may not have a grocery store that's readily available to them and some of their best food options just aren't the most healthy options.

So this is a program that really supports Illinois farmers and providing fresh food and then it also supports people are hungry and in need of food.

>> So, Ben, are we talking about food banks?

Like food pantries?

Yes.

>> Yeah.

So this goes to food pantries the Really any place that distributes food to communities across Illinois.

So are places where people going very need of food.

Grocery store could be an affordable option for them.

It may not be a healthy option for them.

And sometimes they struggle to find healthy options at these sort of places.

And this was a way that the federal government and the state of Illinois, the greatest going to be a good way ensure that fresh food gets into those locations.

>> And has a U.S. Department of Agriculture given an explanation for this decision.

>> Now the state just found out about this earlier this week that this program basically being ended on the federal level.

The federal government is not going to reimburse the state for any cost incurred since Donald Trump took over as president.

So the state on the hook for 18 million dollars the federal the state for reimbursements as part of covering this program.

I didn't receive any response from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state got no explanation when they were told this program is ending.

Illinois farmers got no explanation.

So we're really unsure exactly what happened here.

>> Have you been able to get some feedback on you know, some of the people who work at these food pantries, you know, what are they telling you?

>> Yeah, the farmer I spoke to down in Kankakee County, she told me that she's really concerned mostly about the people who depend on this program as a source of food.

She said that, you know, as a farmer show, she feels like she'll be okay with her business being able to continue selling food.

But she's really worried about people in Pembroke Township where she is located, which I think a lot of viewers probably know is one of the more poor communities in Kankakee County.

And she said there's no grocery store there.

People are.

Many residents are food stamps and the food that comes through this program and goes to locations that distribute food and Illinois.

It's really critical for a lot of people who participate in the Elm it its program.

And she's most worried that they're going to have a hard time accessing the fresh food that comes directly from her farm and goes to locations because there's no grocery store, other place that actually provides fresh food in that community.

>> Have state officials responded to this?

>> Yeah, the governor, he's been with virtually majority of Donald Trump's policies is very upset about this program.

He said that this is essentially just another slap in the face that the Trump administration has taken against poor people.

Other state officials who head up the Department of Human Services and the Department of Agriculture lamented how this program is very important for both the farmers and consumers and that this is really taking away a final human service that the Department of Agriculture has been reimbursing the state of Illinois for.

There's a lot of frustration.

I think one of the things we're going to be watching for going forward is does the Pritzker administration plan engage in any more lawsuits against the Trump administration?

Because they're our reimbursement that the state of Illinois submitted to the federal government and now they're not going to get them.

So that could be a legal argument here that the state this money and this program needs to be seen through its fulfillment.

That and the state and federal government have already agreed to.

>> And then talking about moving forward to these cuts mean that the program has officially ended.

>> Yet the hope really, from folks who I've talked to who are part of this program, they hope that this is a pause because we have seen so many changes to the Trump administration's policies.

Things have been paused they said they're going to do things and then they changed mind about what exactly they're going to do.

So there's hope that eventually this program may be brought back.

But right now for all purposes in the state of Illinois, the state can't really carry out this program because they're not getting the funding from the federal government to actually cut the program.

So therefore, the state's not going to be putting forward more class and they're at for this program.

So right now it's what people hope is paused.

But it's unclear how long that caused blast that could last for very