“We’ve never before faced a situation like we are in now, where need is well beyond any disaster or financial crisis that we’ve seen, and the government’s response is to take food away,” McKee said. “This isn’t about ideology. It’s about math.”

The region’s three main food banks — Blue Ridge, the Capital Area Food Bank and the Maryland Food Bank — together lost more than 1.4 million meals with the March USDA cuts, according to interviews and information provided by the three nonprofits.