After Federal Cuts, Food Banks Scrounge and Scrimp

Sara Busse needed to make a hot meal for 40 needy seniors. She had promised a main dish, a starch, a vegetable, a fruit and a dessert.

In the past, she had gotten many of those ingredients for free from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This time, she had dried cranberries, crackers and vegetable soup.

“What am I supposed to do?” she said. “What am I supposed to cook?”