Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s food distribution director, Francesca Maipi, helps visitors pick out tomatoes at the center’s bimonthly farmers market on Aug. 4, 2025.(Lucia Starbuck / KUNR Public Radio)

The Nevada Department of Agriculture learned in March that it would no longer receive federal assistance for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. The funding went to the state and tribes directly, who then paid small farmers in Nevada to grow produce to supply food banks in the state. Since 2022, Home Feeds Nevada has purchased 3.6 million pounds of food – or 72 semi-truckloads.

During the 2025 Nevada legislative session, one state lawmaker was able to partially replenish the funding. Still, it’s nowhere near what the program was receiving, and that money won’t go directly to tribes. That appropriation also hasn’t been made available yet, leading to produce rotting in the fields.

Tune in to this month’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to hear from small, rural family farmers and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe about what the assistance meant to them and food insecurity in Nevada.

Guests: Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Chairman Steven Wadsworth and food distribution center director Francesca Maipi, State Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Vegas), Nevada Department of Agriculture division of food and nutrition administrator Patricia Hoppe, and farmers Cuco Alanis with Alanis Family Farm in Fallon and Rodney Mehring with Blue Lizard Farm in Caliente.