A House Ag subcommittee hearing Tuesday brought out what was expected – Democrats have concerns about how USDA rolled the aid program out. Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations, blasted USDA's operation of the Farmers to Families Food Box program. “Because USDA has rushed this program out the door, there is very little quality control with regard to who gets these contracts and who is qualified to actually meet the need,” Fudge said. “Tens of millions of dollars have gone to inexperienced contractors that still haven't delivered anywhere near what they've promised. As one food bank executive explained, if USDA had gone through established and capable channels, this problem could have been avoided. This is a humanitarian effort, not a gravy train.”
Fudge related that her panel heard from food bank experts on the ground that “USDA's lack of planning and strategy on the program has led to inexplicable decisions and policies with regard to how funds are distributed, the regions into which the country is divided in terms of food distribution, and other problems. Despite these issues, USDA has refused, to date, to provide any insight or background on how these decisions are being made, and what quality control, if any, exists to correct them if they're wrong.”
USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach noted that in April “in just a few short weeks, USDA stood up [the program] as a new and innovative multi-billion-dollar COVID response program to address three critical needs simultaneously: to provide markets for farmers faced with declining demand and the crisis of food rotting in fields and animals being euthanized; the food needs of newly unemployed Americans; and helping put suppliers and distributors back to work.”
Ibach acknowledged the program does not have the same standards as regular USDA food distribution programs, but said that was because it was supposed to be put in operation so quickly.
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