{"id":20632,"date":"2024-09-12T09:55:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T13:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=20632"},"modified":"2024-10-10T09:58:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T13:58:45","slug":"a-broken-promise-to-indian-country-tribal-leaders-call-on-usda-to-address-major-food-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/a-broken-promise-to-indian-country-tribal-leaders-call-on-usda-to-address-major-food-shortages\/","title":{"rendered":"“A broken promise to Indian Country”: Tribal leaders call on USDA to address major food shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture\u00a0<\/a>made a seemingly straightforward logistical shift to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), which provides USDA foods to income-eligible households living on reservations or in designated tribal areas, offering a vital lifeline to communities often underserved by\u00a0other federal nutrition programs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a February Tribal consultation, USDA officials announced plans to consolidate the program\u2019s two national distribution warehouses into one, touting the shift as a cost-saving measure. But meeting minutes reveal<\/a> Tribal leaders voiced concerns early on, warning that the consolidation would exacerbate goods shortages already affecting their communities, while flagging that \u201cthere was not sufficient time to make the transition\u201d by the USDA\u2019s goal date of April 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Months later, the situation has continued to deteriorate as the food shortages have further deepened \u2014 prompting Tribal leaders and lawmakers alike to urge the USDA to find a swift solution to the growing crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the USDA<\/a>, the FDPIR serves as an alternative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), particularly in areas where access to SNAP offices or authorized retailers is limited. It also connects clients with culturally relevant foods<\/a>, such as bison, wild rice and blue cornmeal, alongside standard USDA commodities<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Administered federally by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), a division of the USDA, the program is managed locally by Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) or state agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The USDA procures and delivers food to these local agencies, which handle storage, distribution, eligibility assessments and nutrition education. The USDA also provides funding to cover administrative costs for these operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, around 276 tribes benefit from FDPIR through 102 ITOs and three state agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Carly Griffith Hotvedt, the interim executive director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, the program serves some of the most vulnerable populations across the United States, with \u201caround 30% of served households in Indian Country including children under 18.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnother 42% of those households have elders over the age of 60,\u201d Griffith Hotvedt said in a written statement<\/a> from the organization. \u201cChildren are our future, and elders are knowledge keepers of our Tribes. These groups are critically important to us and should not be expected to endure or go without.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many ITOs have spent months reporting major food delays \u2014 if the shipments even arrive at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTribes and FDPIR program staff are facing food shortages and unknown wait times [to] get food orders filled,\u201d said Mary Greene Trottier, President of the National Association for Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations (NAFDPIR), said earlier this summer.  \u201cPrograms like ours at Spirit Lake Nation have been told mid-July should be when normal deliveries resume, but currently some Tribes haven\u2019t heard from the delivery vendor in days. It is difficult to distribute foods on the reservation if you can\u2019t tell your Tribal warehouse staff when the delivery truck will be there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when packages have arrived from the USDA\u2019s new distribution center, which is operated by the Missouri-based contractor Paris Brothers, some are missing key items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cumulatively, the chaos that has erupted from not knowing when shipments will arrive, or what they will contain, has led to frustrations from both FDPIR staff and clients (for instance, in speaking with \u201cTribal Business News<\/a>\u201d in July, Greene Trottier said one tribal FDPIR office reported having to \u201cshare pictures of empty shelves on social media\u201d to prove they had no food to distribute). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Children are our future, and elders are knowledge keepers of our Tribes. These groups are critically important to us and should not be expected to endure or go without.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s people going without food, people who don’t receive the benefits they’re entitled for that month,\u201d Greene Trottier told the publication.  \u201cIt’s reaching every warehouse in Indian Country that distributes FDPIR food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, ITO workers began hosting regular calls \u2014 some report daily, others weekly \u2014 with the USDA to try to address the shortage, but it\u2019s slow work. In the meantime, many community members began relying on food pantries to supplement their diets as Feeding America announced their network of food banks was connecting with Native and Tribal reservations in their service area \u201cto identify the impact that the disruption has had in these communities and how they can assist, especially for Tribes most affected.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood banks across the country are on alert to reach out to their tribal partners for collaborative support,\u201d Mark Ford, Director of Native and Tribal Partnerships for Feeding America, said in a statement. \u201cWe also welcome anyone interested in assisting to please reach out to their local Indian Tribal organization or their local food bank with offers of support, which may include volunteering with food distributions or through financial contributions so those impacted can get the food they need until this disruption has been resolved.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Aug. 23, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley led a bipartisan group of senators \u2014 which included Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), John Hoeven (R-ND), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Tina Smith (D-MN) \u2014 to send an open letter to the USDA<\/a>, urging the agency to \u201ctake immediate action to rectify mounting delays with the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It read, in part: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In March 2024, USDA consolidated the food delivery contractors to one sole-source contractor, Paris Brothers, Inc. in Kansas City, MO. Since that change went into effect on April 1, 2024, participating Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) began to experience \u2018[s]poradic deliveries, or incorrect orders and compromised best if used by dates.\u2019 Participating households have not had consistent food deliveries for over four months. This is unacceptable,\u201d the senators wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe appreciate that USDA is hosting weekly calls with impacted ITOs, but delays persist and there is no timeline to resolve this issue and fully restore on-time food deliveries. Tribal leadership, low-income families, and the community-at-large have been diligently working to fill the gap; however, USDA must take immediate action to restore full operation of the FDPIR program and end the uncertainty looming over countless families,\u201d the senators implored. \u201cWe urge the USDA to engage in emergency tribal consultation and restore food deliveries and operation of the FDPIR program. USDA must promptly establish plans to prevent a situation like this from occurring in the future<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In response, leadership at the USDA announced they are \u201ctaking a number of steps to address the delays in the short term\u201d while also developing a permanent plan that ensures a steady and reliable distribution schedule. On a web page updated on Sept. 10<\/a>, the agency wrote the \u201cUSDA recognizes this is a significant disruption that has left locations without acceptable inventories of necessary food items.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their current short-term solutions include: allocating at least $11 million to FDPIR and up to $36 million to CSFP agencies to purchase domestic foods; temporarily expanding the USDA DoD Fresh program to supply additional meats, grains, and dairy; activating the Emergency Feeding Network to distribute food through local partners; and leveraging the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) to allow tribal and state governments to buy regional foods and meet immediate needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No amount of hard work can correct a lack of food, though.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Tribal leaders and food security advocates say this sustained disruption has damaged community trust in significant ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the federal or distributor perspective, this may just appear like a normal logistical challenge that is part of doing business,\u201d Greene Trottier said in a written statement. \u201cHowever, for our Tribal communities, this is often viewed as another instance of a broken promise to Indian Country. Front line ITO staff in our communities ultimately deal with the fallout of the inconsistencies in the food package.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued: \u201cNo amount of hard work can correct a lack of food, though.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salon Earlier this year, the\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture\u00a0made a seemingly straightforward logistical shift to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), which provides USDA foods to income-eligible households living on reservations or in designated tribal areas, offering a vital lifeline to communities often underserved by\u00a0other federal nutrition programs.\u00a0 During a February Tribal consultation, USDA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"A broken promise to Indian Country": Tribal leaders call on USDA to address major food shortages - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/a-broken-promise-to-indian-country-tribal-leaders-call-on-usda-to-address-major-food-shortages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""A broken promise to Indian Country": Tribal leaders call on USDA to address major food shortages - 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