Chloe and Ollie Cox are stuck in gumbo. They’ve spent 13 years working on Mator Farms in Turrell, Arkansas building it into a 10-acre supplier of greens and other mouth-watering veggies. They cleared a major hurdle, securing a loan through the nonprofit Communities Unlimited to cover cash flow as they grow. And they connected with a steady customer base through the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program.

Now, that momentum is in danger of stalling. In early 2025, LFPA contracts were cancelled as part of a $1 billion federal funding cut to local food initiatives at schools and pantries. 

“It sucked the wind out of everything we were trying to do,” Chloe said. “How do you continue to scale up when it’s literally just pulled out from under you?”

The LFPA contract didn’t just mean reliable sales — it meant the difference between hiring extra hands during harvest or leaving crops in the field. Without it, the Coxes and thousands of other small producers are losing market access and income that helps circulate money through rural economies.

It was enough to make them question their livelihood, if only briefly. “We’re left thinking, ‘What do we do?’ Chloe said. “Do you scale up and take an even bigger risk, or do you hold off? It takes a lot of money to start to plant. Seed is expensive. Fertilizer is expensive.”

Before starting Mator Farms, Ollie worked as a mental health counselor and Chloe was a teacher in West Memphis. Chloe still teaches online. “Inspiration from the Lord was given to my husband,” Chloe said of the farm’s beginnings. “Every single thing is under His guidance and leadership.”

With the farm, they wanted to leave a legacy for their three daughters. “What better way to instill values and leave something behind, and get back to the land, than to farm and let the land give back to us?” Chloe said. 

The Coxes farm the flat land of the Arkansas Delta. “There’s lots of gumbo out here,” Chloe said. “When it’s muddy, it’ll take your boots off. This soil is good for producing heavy things, turnip greens and collard greens.”

Mator Farms grows seasonal crops in the spring and fall. Chloe especially loves the rich taste of fall turnip, collard and mustard greens. “The sugars in the plant get a little sweeter after the first frost,” Chloe said. 

They also grow okra, kale and purple hull peas, sweet beets, cantaloupe and watermelon. 

As the Coxes’ farm grew, so did its financial demands — namely, cash flow for equipment and labor to harvest their crops. “We were in a position where we were needing to scale up really, really fast, but the funding was not coming in at a time when it was needed,” Chloe said. “Funding was trickling in, but orders were gushing in.”

Chloe contacted Candence Brooks at Communities Unlimited (CU). “That’s my girl,” Chloe recalled of her excitement over the connection. “I know Candence.”

Cadence Brooks was working on a new CU program funded by the Sachs Foundation to help small farmers who faced barriers to traditional financing. Mator Farms became the program’s first recipient, using the loan to buy a spreader, a sprayer, and pay harvest labor costs.

Through CU, the Coxes also secured a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant from the USDA, which they used to purchase a refrigerated truck. Finally, CU connected Mator Farms with LFPA, which purchases fresh food from local farmers for food banks, pantries and schools. 

“All the funding was meant to go hand in hand,” Ollie said. “Everything was meant to build up the farm and underpin the supply chain to feed people across the country.”

Together, those programs created a ladder — helping the Coxes grow from a startup farm into a critical link in the local food supply chain. When one piece was pulled out, the whole structure started to wobble. Cuts like these threaten not just farmers, but the jobs, food access, and community wealth they support.

To contract under LFPA, Mator Farms formed a coop with five other farmers who grew mushrooms, vegetables and fruit and raised beef. But the abrupt axing of LFPA left the farmers scrambling, along with about 10,000 other producers across the nation. 

Ollie takes the long view. “We intend to be here for the long run,” he said. “We intend to stay on plan and leave something behind for our kids and our community. We hope we’re strong enough to make it through this time and come out on the other side stronger.