USDA Buys Fresh Fruits to Aid Food Banks Amid Farmer Support

By Michael Katz | Monday, 24 November 2025 08:06 PM EST

The Department of Agriculture announced it will purchase up to $30 million in fresh fruit from U.S. farmers and producers to distribute to food banks and nutrition assistance programs nationwide. The USDA said the purchases through its Agricultural Marketing Service include $15 million in oranges, $10 million in grapefruit, and $5 million in mandarin oranges.

“These fresh fruits will reach those in need, boosting healthier options for Americans at food banks across the country, all while benefiting American farmers facing unfair actions from foreign competitors,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a news release. The Agricultural Marketing Service purchases a variety of domestically produced and processed agricultural products as authorized by Section 32 of the Agriculture Act of 1935. Those foods are provided to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service programs, including food banks that are a vital component of the nation’s food safety net. The program helps ensure surplus crops are not wasted and instead benefit Americans in need.

“President Trump is standing with America’s farmers, especially right now while the farm economy recovers from years of neglect under the last administration,” Rollins said. “Certain commodities are experiencing a surplus and USDA is ensuring these crops do not go to waste and instead go to Americans in need across the country,” she added. Rollins earlier reported saying the Trump administration expects to announce an aid package for U.S. farmers within two weeks and a deal on Chinese soybean purchases but offered no further details. “We’ll have an announcement probably in the next week or two on what that’s going to look like,” Rollins told CNBC.

The American Farm Bureau Federation said the aid is “urgently needed” as farmers face the compounding pressures of higher input costs and lower crop prices. In October, after President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans through January. China purchased nearly 1.6 million metric tons of soybeans over three days last week, its largest single-week total in two years, buoying crop prices. “Every sign in their commitment remains true that they will indeed buy, or purchase, 12 million metric tons or put the order in,” she said. “Even if the purchase order comes in before the end of December, those will move early next year.” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social that he and Xi had discussed soybeans and other farm products in a phone call and that they had “done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers.”

Michael Katz is a reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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