USDA officials, contractor criticized after months of missed and expired food deliveries to tribal communities and seniors

Leaders of tribal food programs and members of Congress on Tuesday described months of missed, delayed and sometimes expired deliveries of food intended for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and faulted a USDA contracting decision to consolidate distribution to a single vendor.

“At one point we took pictures of totally empty shelves in our FDPIR program sites,” said Mary Green Trottier, president of the National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations and director of her tribe’s program, testifying that shortages began in April and continue at some sites. Chiefs and program directors from the Red Lake Band, the Chickasaw Nation and Spirit Lake told the committee the consolidation and a sole contractor left many tribal warehouses unable to meet local needs.

The hearing drew bipartisan concern: members said the problems are both operational and political. Rep. Dusty Johnson (chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee) and others said tribes raised alarms during a February consultation that, they said, did not meaningfully alter USDA’s plan to move to a single warehouse and contractor. “Tribes urged a regional model; the department proceeded anyway,” Rep. Brad Finstad said.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, who testified in a second panel, acknowledged the department’s failures. “We at USDA … are deeply sorry for the stress,…