In the termination letter sent to IATP – and in similar verbiage to other plaintiffs who received letters of termination – the USDA stated that the awarded grant provided funding for programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and therefore was no longer consistent with “Department priorities.” Following a Trump executive order targeting grants to nonprofit organizations supporting DEI initiatives and climate action, the lawsuit argues that the USDA canceled hundreds of grants illegally without due process.
The plaintiff groups are represented by FarmSTAND, Earthjustice, and Farmers Justice Center. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is now named as a defendant in the case along with the USDA.
IATP’s terminated grant supported work for the MinneAg Network, a Minnesota-based initiative to engage farm and food systems stakeholders who are often left out of government farm program development. The public information project was designed to inform all of Minnesota’s farming communities, including small to mid-sized food producers, about how farm program decisions that impact them are made, and increase opportunities to have their voices heard. By including the experiences of more farmers and food system community members who experience these programs on the ground, the work was designed to improve programs and identify gaps in existing programs.
IATP’s grant was canceled a year and a half into the two-year grant period, essentially shutting it down before the work could reach the finish line.
“The purpose of this grant is to get essential resources and information to community members who are deeply connected to Minnesota’s farm and food system but often shut out of the development of farm programs — including farmers, producers, food service directors, food shelf operators, conservation program directors and more,” says Erin McKee VanSlooten, Community Food Systems program director at IATP. “The abrupt and unexpected cancelation of our grant comes at a critical juncture just before we were planning to finalize our 'Farm and Food Systems 101' resources to make this information available to all, negating all the work that has been done over the last year and a half.”
In this suit originally filed by three plaintiff groups in early June, the plaintiffs allege that in addition to being unlawful, the terminations stand in opposition to the USDA’s newly stated policies, including “maximizing and promoting American agriculture” and “ensuring a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply.”
“The Trump Administration has stopped funding to groups doing important work consistent with the purposes of their grants to support underserved communities and independent producers of food, and to bring about a healthier country and environment for all,” said Holly Bainbridge, FarmSTAND Staff Attorney and counsel for the plaintiff groups. “USDA’s policy and practice of terminating these grants represents, in part, a desperate attempt to roll back progress toward a thriving America and a fair food system.”
