At least 1,000 tribal members in Minnesota have faced delayed and missing food deliveries in recent months from a U.S. Department of Agriculture program for low-income residents of Indian reservations.
As a shift in contractors disrupted the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) stepped up to offer $1 million in emergency grants to affected tribes in the state and across the Midwest.
The need was so great that within days, SMSC increased the initial grants to $3 million for tribes in Minnesota as well as Dakota, Lakota and Nakota tribes in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota as they wait for the federal government to remedy the problem.
“When we heard about the issues of tribes getting food deliveries up to three months late, sometimes never getting deliveries … getting deliveries of food that’s expired, we knew there was a significant need out there and we knew the USDA was not fulfilling their needs,” said Cole Miller, chair of the SMSC.
This week, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) joined a bipartisan group of senators in writing a letter to the USDA demanding that it swiftly address widespread disruptions in the program that provides food packages to low-income households on reservations and to Indian households in approved areas near reservations or in Oklahoma. The program, the letter said, provides food to more than 100 tribal organizations and some 50,000 people rely on it nationwide.
The senators said the problems stem from a move in March by the USDA to consolidate food delivery contractors to one sole-source contractor known as Paris Bros. Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. Since the change took effect in April, the senators’ letter noted, participating Indian tribes began facing sporadic deliveries, incomplete orders and goods with compromised expiration dates.
“This is unacceptable,” wrote the lawmakers, including Smith and North Dakota’s two senators.
The FDPIR is an alternative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Tribal members eligible for FDPIR go to a distribution center monthly to receive a box of groceries, which includes items such as powdered milk and eggs, butter, juice, cheese, meats, fruits and vegetables.
