A September 11 Congressional hearing focused on the food delivery disruptions impacting the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
The joint oversight hearing featured Indian Country representation discussing the programs’ – which are operated under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Nutrition Service (FNS) – impact on their communities. Providing testimony were Tribal Chairman Darrel G. Seki Sr. of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Under Secretary of Support and Programs Marty Wafford of the Chickasaw Nation and National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations President Mary Greene-Trottier of Spirit Lake Sioux Nation.
The panelists highlighted the history of the FDPIR program and Tribal Nation’s experience administering nutrition programs while also providing suggested steps to prevent the disruptions from happening in the future.
“Having one national vendor and one national warehouse for USDA food has proven insufficient,” said Marty Wafford, Chickasaw Nation Under Secretary of Support and Programs.
“The inventory crisis, which is negatively impacting First Americans across the country, is unfortunate and does not fulfill the trust responsibility.”
Background
FDPIR provides USDA-sourced foods to nearly 50,000 income-eligible households living on Indian reservations and households residing in approved areas near reservations or in Oklahoma. Seven Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) across the country also administer CSFP, which provides food to low-income qualifying elders.
In April 2024, USDA consolidated the programs from a two-warehouse delivery system into one. This came despite concerns raised by Tribal leaders in February 2024, when notified about the change. In early September, USDA indicated the sole source contract was because of a lack of vendors with the capability to source nationally.
According to the USDA, the agency “did not actively seek to shift from two contracts to one in the contracting process, but rather the decision was the result of the proposal evaluation.”
By June, NAFDPIR members from across the country began reporting missing or incorrect deliveries from the one remaining national warehouse. This was complicated by many Tribes being unable to contact the vendor to determine when deliveries were coming.
The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative (IFAI) has worked closely with the National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations (NAFDPIR) for many years with policy research support on FDPIR. In addition, IFAI supports the work NAFDPIR and a Tribal leaders’ consultation working group, who sit in regular Tribal consultations with USDA throughout the year. The NAFDPIR board requested IFAI help conduct outreach to determine the severity of the impacts to the 100+ ITOs around the U.S.
“What we have found is some Tribes and ITOs are experiencing less severe disruptions, but others are experiencing empty shelves or very limited food options,” said IFAI Executive Director, Carly Griffith Hotvedt (Cherokee Nation). “At times, ITOs had no other option but to turn people away without receiving needed food.
“For perspective, these programs serve Tribal citizens that may not have access to a grocery store within 100 miles or who may be using the last of the gas they have in their cars to participate in FDPIR or CSFP and are forced to simply go without.”
Prior to August, ITOs had were left to leverage their own local networks such as fellow ITOs and Feeding America, a national foodbank network, to make up for missing items.
According to a statement from NAFDPIR, “USDA initially estimated issues would be fixed by mid-July. Going back to February’s consultation when they said no disruptions were foreseen, assurances have come and gone. Here we are in the fall 2024 still talking about how to fix this issue while Tribal citizens and their non-Native neighbors in Tribal communities go without.”
In late August, USDA FNS rolled out several solutions that will not immediately solve the issue but would begin to alleviate it. This includes:
- DoD Fresh
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- Department of Defense Fresh Vendors for limited number of Tribes. FNS has reached out to those who might benefit from this supplemental support, though this is on a very limited basis.
- TEFAP
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- State requests for situations of distress allowing the activation of The Emergency Feeding Assistance Program (TEFAP) by state to distribute food from current USDA-provided state inventories — As of August 29, 2024, 18 States have made the declaration, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- Situation of distress– If FNS declares a situation of distress for a community, it would allow for additional avenues of food assistance from available state stores of food items.
- LFPA
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- Use of Tribe’s existing Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) funds to purchase food for the FDPIR program with no reimbursements.
- CCC Funds
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- $11M in Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for Tribal food purchases, roughly breaking out to $200 per recipient served, based on the highest enrollment month by Tribe or ITO. The funds are only reimbursable from Aug. 12 onward, so any self-funding support prior to that date that tribes undertook, is not reimbursable.
- Supplemental Temporary Vendor
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- FNS has secured a supplemental emergency supplier (Americold) to add capacity to their deliveries for six months with an option to extend for six months. At the September 12 Tribal Consultation, USDA said they would update Tribes on the status of the two new warehouses under Americold the week of September 16.
“The Food and Nutrition Service’s solutions are a step in the right direction, but they could have been rolled out sooner and avoided much of the situation ITOs find themselves in,” Griffith Hotvedt said.
According to a statement by NAFDPIR, “Challenges exist within all of USDA’s options due to logistical and statutory constraints. Not every ITO will be able to leverage each option as a solution to the delivery disruptions.”
Hearing highlights
Tribal leaders who spoke during the hearing expressed hope for moving forward, despite the length of the current warehouse delivery delays.
“Let us all decide here today that we will work together to solve these problems – right the ship – and fix the long-standing concerns that NAFDPIR has warned FNS of for years and years,” said Mary Greene-Trottier, NAFDPIR board president.
In a recent statement, she and fellow program administrators highlighted steps that Congress can take to eliminate the issues and ensure disruptions like this are less likely to happen in the future. This includes establishing a regional sourcing model.
In his written testimony, Red Lake Chairman Seki Sr. noted his Tribe identified solutions for long-term response to avoid a crisis like this in the future, including a regional sourcing model, an automatic tracking system for deliveries, and making the 638 FDPIR pilot program authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill permanent. He also called for the expansion of 638 in CSFP.
After Tribal leaders spoke, the joint oversight hearing questioned USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA FNS Deputy Undersecretary Cindy Long, and Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator Bruce Summers.
Secretary Vilsack and Congressional officials introduced several steps to better short-term and long-term solutions. These include:
- 360-degree review of delivery disruptions and report findings to Congress
- Increase Tribal expertise within the Office of General Council
- Add language to current Farm Bill draft to address recommendations from USDA review
- Add specificity re FDPIR vs SNAP into statute particularly why barrier in dual participation exists
- Using the next farm bill to create make FDPIR 638 permanent and include a 638 pilot for CSFP
- Employ a regional approach to warehouse deliveries
- Invite Paris Brothers to Congress
Check out the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative’s next policy brief for more information on the program, hearings, and upcoming consultations.
Learn more about the National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations by clicking here, and check out IFAI’s research on regional sourcing for FDPIR published here.