We knew there would be pain when President Donald Trump said he was going to right-size federal programs in an attempt to bring the federal budget under control.

The only way to get control of federal spending is through spending cuts. Of course, now we’re finding out just how dependent on federal programs we really are – and some of these cuts come with real pain for people who are struggling to get by. Among them are the 189 Pennsylvania farmers and 14 Pennsylvania food banks that participated in the federally-backed Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program that gave money to farmers to provide fresh, local food to food banks.

Over the past two and a half years, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) has directed more than $28 million in federal LFPA funding. Another $13 million had been promised before the program’s recent cancellation.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has filed an administrative challenge to the decision, demanding the federal government honor the $13 million it had budgeted for the program for the next three years, with Shapiro promising further legal action of the U.S. Agriculture Department doesn’t reverse the decision.

At the very least, restructuring federal programs should take place when funding commitments have ended. In this case, that would mean ending the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program for Pennsylvania when already announced federal funding ends in 2028. That gives time for state officials, farmers and food bank officials to come up with a new plan – whether that’s to fill the gap with state funding or create a new way to provide fresh food to food banks.

We need to bring federal programs under control, but there is a right way and a wrong way to accomplish that goal. Cancelling programs after funding has already been promised is the wrong way to go about it, particularly when we’re talking about food bank funding that takes food from the plates of those whose plates aren’t overflowing in the first place.