A change made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture consolidated services to one national vendor and one national warehouse, causing tribal nations to receive outdated and damaged food items or, in some cases, no food.
Marty Wafford is the Undersecretary of Support and Programs for the Chickasaw Nation.
On Tuesday, she addressed the House of Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, saying her nation has received 24 trucks since April, and 33 percent of those truckloads had problems.
Wafford told the Congressional panel about an order her tribal nation received on August 14.
“The cheese had expired in December of 2023,” she said.
Because of delivery delays, Wafford explained many items are out of stock, causing her to look for alternative ways to supply food. The Chickasaw Nation has received funding through the Commodity Credit Corporation to combat the shortage, but Wafford said that is just a supplement and the money will not last long.
It has also caused more headaches for workers.
“Not only is this inventory crisis impacting clients, but it is also taking a toll on our staff, who spend countless hours trying to solidify the erratic delivery status of orders, apologizing to clients for the lack of available inventory and answering phone calls,” Wafford said.
For 40 years, the Chickasaw Nation has administered the food distribution program. Currently, the nation has five food distribution grocery stores in Ada, Ardmore, Duncan, Tishomingo and Purcell, where traditional foods and fresh produce and meat are available.
They are also one of more than a dozen tribes participating in a self-determination demonstration project, which gives participating tribes more control over the program. Wafford said she generally favors the program and emphasized that Congress must implement self-governance authority for programs involving Indigenous communities.
“This inventory and warehousing crisis is an example of how the locally procured food system works,” Wafford said. “We have not experienced ordering or delivery issues with foods procured with the self-determination demonstration project in which we currently supply a variety of beef, pecans and dried hominy, which we use to make our traditional food Pashofa.”
Other tribal leaders presenting on the panel noted that the program's history has not been perfect, but it has never failed to this extent.
“People are hungry today,” Wafford said. “We need our groceries today, not seven months later. Go back to that regional model. We do not want to go backwards in feeding our people, which is exactly what's happening today.”
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