ALDERSON — The Sunset Berry Farm sits a few miles from the banks of the Greenbrier River in Alderson.
Jennifer Gilkerson and her husband started the farm in 2010 to generate extra income. Over the past 15 years, they’ve grown everything from strawberries to green peppers and tomatoes.
Last year, the farm was selected to participate in a pilot program to subsidize labor costs and was awarded $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be paid out over two years.
However, after hiring 10 new workers and spending nearly $50,000, the Gilkersons didn’t receive the second half of the money. The program was canceled.
Now, the farm is thousands of dollars in debt.
The cancellation was part of $1 billion in USDA cuts the Trump administration announced in March.
“What I’m afraid of happening is the crops failing, and we’re $50,000 in the hole,” she said. “We cannot survive this. I mean, we just can’t.”
Like others in the state, the Gilkerson farm depended on money from local schools and customers in the area, as well as five other counties that bought their produce.
But the cuts to USDA farm subsidies targeted the Local Food for Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance program.
Those cuts severed the connections between schools, food banks and local growers. In Monroe and Greenbrier counties, about 900 farms grow fruits, vegetables and livestock across 134,000 acres.
In 2023, farms in both counties received about $857,000 in federal subsidy money through numerous USDA programs.
Across the lush hills of Greenbrier Valley, small farms that depend on government subsidies to stay in business, and communities that rely on those farms for fresh produce have been hit hard.
So, on a sunny Saturday in late April in Lewisburg, Gilkerson was among a crowd of 200 protesters near city hall.
Cars honked in solidarity, and hand-painted signs filled the air as the protestors chanted: “Save our Farms!”
Organizer Cindy Lavender-Bowe from the Greenbrier County Democratic Women’s Club stood at the microphone, rallying support for West Virginia’s struggling farmers.
“Farmers are hurting,” she told the energetic crowd. “We are having fresh, local food taken out of the mouths of our school children, and we are here today to facilitate community action.”
As West Virginians face hunger, schools and food banks are left without critical funding
The federal Local Food for Schools program, which received $660 million in cuts, allowed schools to purchase food from local farmers. The program reimbursed schools for fresh fruits and vegetables.
And another $10 million was cut from the federal Patrick Leahy Farm to School program which also helped schools incorporate healthy foods into menus. In West Virginia, 600 schools participated in the program, and 84% of those served fresh, local food like fruits and vegetables.
The West Virginia Department of Education was set to receive $2.77 million to reimburse school purchases from the USDA through the Local Food for Schools program.
Department of Education spokesperson Christy Day said all of West Virginia’s 55 counties participated in the program.
“Schools will not receive reimbursement for their local product purchases that depend on this funding,” she said.
Heather Lively, child nutrition coordinator for the Greenbrier County Board of Education, said all 13 schools in the county were participating in the program.
However, she said they haven’t identified how the cuts will impact purchases from local farmers in the next school year until they meet over the summer to discuss the budget.
Meanwhile, local food banks are coping with losing funding from the Local Food Purchase Assistance program. The federal program, which helped food banks receive food and dairy products from local farms, was cut by $420 million
One in seven West Virginia residents faces hunger, as many communities lack access to fresh, healthy food and local grocery stores close.
Wellspring of Greenbrier County feeds six tons of food to over 500 people in a month, and half of that is purchased through the program, said Scott Miller, a member of the organization’s board.
“It’s pretty clear that we will be receiving less food,” he said. “It’s going to be very challenging to provide the support that people need. If the government isn’t supporting this, we’re going to have to do it.”
A lifeline for small farmers
Just 25 minutes east of the Gilkersons’ farm in Alderson is T.L. Fruits and Vegetables, a small farm started by Tommye Rafes. She started the farm in 2012 after moving from Oklahoma, where she once operated a berry farm.
Like the Gilkersons, Rafes heavily invested in her farming operations last year, not in labor but in renewable energy.
Her farm participated in the federal Rural Energy for America Program, which encourages farmers to use alternative energy sources like solar or wind to power their farms.
She spent over $70,000 to upgrade her farm with solar panels, believing she’d be reimbursed $20,000 through the program. But the funding never came, and now she’s certain it never will.
She said small farms like hers are already operating on thin margins.
“If there are no farms, there’s no food,” she said. “I actually don’t know anybody here who does it for a living and could live on just the income. I was a teacher, and I’m lucky I have a retirement.”
Over in Lindside, near the Virginia border, is Spangler Farms. Owner John Spangler has been farming for over 40 years. It’s not just a career for him, it’s all he’s ever known.
But he’s expecting to lose nearly $100,000 in revenue from the cuts, as he worked directly with local schools to sell his produce since the Local Food For Schools program began in 2021. He worked with eight different county school systems across the state.
Spangler said the program was unique because it connected his farm to end users, who relied on the fresh produce to feed children healthy food.
“I’ve seen a lot of things and fought through a lot of things,” he said. “But now the rug has been completely pulled from under us.”
He also owns Jumpin’ Johnny’s Popcorn, which he’s had to upscale to compensate for the loss of income by pivoting to catering popcorn bars.
With summer approaching and plants in bloom, farmers like Spangler are wondering if anyone is listening to them.
“People are wondering where our representatives are and if they’re even listening to us,” he said. “West Virginia voted for these people. They need to hear us.”
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a statement that the government had an obligation to review wasteful spending and that she’s encouraging the Trump administration to be transparent about reviewing federal programs.
She said she was monitoring the issue.
Sen. Jim Justice, also R-W.Va., did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for GOP Rep. Carol Miller, whose district includes Greenbrier and Monroe counties, refused to comment on the issue.
For Jennifer Gilkerson at Sunset Berry Farm, she’s poured everything into the business, and the thought of shuttering its doors keeps her awake at night, she said.
And now she’s wondering what happens next.
“I am normally an optimistic person, but I’m struggling with that right now,” she said. “I’m just trying to tell myself that it’s going to be okay.”