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PORTSIDE CULTURE

TRUMP WANTS TO REPLACE GROCERY AID FOR SENIORS WITH “MAHA FOOD
BOXES”  
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Aimee Picchi Edited By Alain Sherter
May 7, 2025
CBS
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_ George Matysik, executive director of non-profit Share Food
Program, expressed concern about the Trump administration's plans.
"...the program that we currently have is working and seniors have
come to rely on us," he said. _

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President Trump's proposed budget
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next year could include big changes for a small food aid program that
helps low-income senior citizens supplement their diets. Under
the plan
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funding for the program — called the Commodity Supplemental Food
Program (CSFP) — would be cut, and seniors instead would receive
what the Trump administration is calling "MAHA food boxes" filled with
products sourced directly from farmers. 

The food boxes — whose name stems from Health and Human Services
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s pledge to "Make America Healthy
Again
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— could eventually also be rolled out to either "supplant or
complement current USDA programs," the U.S. Department of Agriculture
told CBS MoneyWatch in an email. 

The agency didn't disclose what other government programs could
integrate use of the MAHA food boxes. 

The USDA administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or
SNAP, more commonly known as food stamps. The agency also oversees
other food aid programs such as Women, Infants and Children, which is
aimed at pregnant women and kids, as well as the National School Lunch
program.

"Unlike the current approach using food banks, which provide those in
need with shelf-stable foods that are high in sodium and other harmful
ingredients, MAHA boxes would be filled with commodities sourced from
domestic farmers and given directly to American households," the Trump
budget proposal notes.

The CSFP helps about 730,000 low-income seniors annually through its
$389 million budget, according
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the food-stamp program spent about $100 billion last year to provide
assistance to 41 million Americans, according to the USDA. 

"WE HAVE NO DETAILS"

The CSFP is essential for low-income seniors who are struggling to put
food on the table, said George Matysik, executive director of Share
Food Program, a nonprofit in Philadelphia. He expressed concern about
the Trump administration's plans to replace the CSFP with food boxes,
noting the logistical complexity of getting perishable food from
farmers directly to older Americans. 

Another question is whether the foods included in the food boxes would
meet the needs of seniors who often need shelf-stable foods because
many struggle to get to the store, Matysik said.

"What we do know is that the program that we currently have is
working, and seniors have come to rely on us," he said. "We have no
details [about logistics of the MAHA food boxes], and this has been a
continued challenge that we've had with this administration, where
decisions are sort of made overnight."

Share Food Program relies on $4.5 million in CSFP funding to provide
32-pound food boxes to more than 7,000 seniors in the Philadelphia
region who earn less than roughly $23,000 per year. Matysik disagreed
with the Trump administration's claims that the program provides
unhealthy foods to seniors, noting the boxes typically contain
products such as canned vegetables, lean proteins and pastas.

"For seniors, a lot of times it can be hard to make it out to the
grocery store — it can be hard to get those core items that folks
need," he added. "What we do at Share Food Program is take it directly
to the doorstep of about 4,500 seniors, so not only are we providing
that nutrition, but we're making it easy on the seniors."

The Trump budget proposal represents a wish list for the current
administration, and it isn't certain that funding for the CSFP would
be cut.

But the plan comes amid a larger push by the Trump administration to
reduce spending on similar programs, such as a decision in March to
cut two federal programs that provided about $1 billion in funding to
schools and food banks and instead have them source food directly from
local farms, ranchers and producers.

The Kennedy effect

The MAHA food boxes would provide a twofold benefit, the USDA said in
an email to CBS MoneyWatch.

"MAHA boxes would be more wholesome foods, and similar to the Farmers
to Families Food Box, fresh foods," the agency said. It added that
"the most obvious" benefit would be "the removal of administrative
middlemen from the distribution of food."

The Farmers to Families Food Box, a pandemic food program that ran
from May 2020 to May 2021, relied on more than 200 contractors to
deliver millions of boxes to needy families, according to a 2021
analysis from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The study
found that the 21 biggest contractors were collectively awarded $3
billion to deliver the boxes.

MAHA, meanwhile, is part of a push by Kennedy to promote natural foods
and alternative medicines. As head of HHS, he's pressing the food
industry to stop using synthetic food dyes and has pledged to remove
processed foods from school lunches.

The USDA has signaled its openness to the MAHA platform, with
Secretary Brooke Rollins saying she plans to approve a plan from
Arkansas to ban the use of food stamps for purchasing sodas and candy.
Anti-hunger advocates have said such restrictions can be stigmatizing
for low-income Americans.

In the meantime, Matysik said he's worried about the future of the
CSFP program and the seniors who rely on it.

"Our seniors in particular are already hurting," he said. "We're
hearing about cuts to the SNAP program. We're seeing about cuts to
Medicaid and Medicare. We're really worried about our senior citizens
in this funding environment from our federal government right now."

AIMEE PICCHI [[link removed]]

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch,
where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked
at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including
USA Today and Consumer Reports.

© 2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

* food
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* food for seniors
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* MAHA
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