Government food shortage persists in Minnesota’s tribal communities 

Amid the ongoing USDA food distribution crisis, tribal nations are calling for changes to federal farm policy that they say will allow tribes to have more control over the production and quality of what the government provides.

Susie Roy, the coordinator of the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe’s food distribution program, said a food truck that should have arrived in the community just east of Bemidji more than a week ago arrived Friday.

“I’ve worked here for 43 years, and I’ve never seen shortages like this before.”

Roy said a truck driver told her after a stop in Minneapolis, another driver would deliver food to Leech Lake. The truck was then supposed to head to the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, near Ely. Before changes were made to the program this past year, she said those shipments used to come directly from the vendor in Kansas City.

The late deliveries are an improvement over what happened this summer. Roy said no shipments came in June and July. During those two months, her program, which usually provides as many as 110 food items, could only grant four or five items to families who qualified.

At the heart of the problem is a decision by the USDA earlier this year to move from two food vendors who distributed food to a single vendor. The vendor has faced challenges in trying to meet the demands of the new contract.

The USDA says it is working to solve logistical issues on the ground with the vendor.

A spokesperson said in an email the agency is “deeply apologetic” and aims to provide direct financial assistance to help program operators and as well as an emergency delivery contract. 

 Federal trust obligation 

The federal government has a trust obligation to provide food to tribal nations. It does this through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations established in the 1970s but which fulfills a much older treaty-based provision. The program was created because many tribal members who qualified for SNAP, also known as food stamps, did not live near a grocer where they could use SNAP benefits.

At Leech Lake, Roy says approximately 85 households use the federal food distribution program. She said approximately 5 percent of those participants are elderly and another 10 percent are families with young children. Many of those who participate are working families who still qualify.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community recently made $3 million available to tribes throughout the region to buy food as they waited for USDA food trucks to arrive.

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community chairperson Cole Miller said funding is meant as a temporary form of relief. He said the federal government needs to make good on its treaty-based obligation to provide food to those who qualify for USDA programs.  

Tribal leaders call for reform

The crisis is happening at a moment when Indigenous leaders are working to reform tribal food programs as a part of a farm bill.

At a bipartisan oversight hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Red Lake Nation Chairman Darrell Seki told members of Congress that families and elders in Red Lake have experienced severe delays over the past several months.

Seki ticked off a list of possible solutions to the current food crisis.

He called on members of Congress to implement a pilot program which allows tribes to enter self-governance contracts with the USDA. He said the agency needs a regional sourcing model and an “automatic tracking system” to give tribes real-time information on food shipments.

“Tribes are not truly sovereign until we are food sovereign,” Seki said.

The chairperson told members of the House subcommittee that Red Lake Nation operates a fishery, a bison ranch and a large garden program. He says Red Lake is ready to enter self-governance food contracts with USDA using locally-sourced meat and produce.

Seki and other tribal leaders say those contracts would cut down on distribution problems and create healthier local food options. 

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