The Agriculture Department has eliminated hundreds of contracts under the Trump administration, including one that helped households locate food assistance programs, according to a federal lawsuit.
Hunger Free America, a New York-based nonprofit, ran an “information clearinghouse” for USDA that connected tens of thousands of users annually with government-funded food aid programs — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Summer Food Service Program. The nonprofit also helped users find private food aid programs in their communities.
But a federal lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claims USDA declined to renew the contract, despite a legal mandate to do so. The complaint states USDA officials notified Hunger Free America that it wouldn’t renew the contract weeks before it was set to expire.
“Currently, the federal government has no single function where people can find soup kitchens and food pantries in America — including soup kitchens and food pantries in America that get USDA commodities and USDA food,” Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg told Federal News Network.
The Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act and the National School Lunch Act require USDA to “enter into a contract with a nongovernmental organization” to “establish and maintain a clearinghouse to provide information to nongovernmental groups” about food assistance programs.
According to the complaint, when the nonprofit wrote to the Food and Nutrition Service about USDA’s obligation to award the contract, an FNS contracting officer responded that “it is the Government who determines agency need to go along with that particular law.”
USDA has cancelled 750 contracts so far under the Trump administration, according to a tracker on its website.
“This lawsuit is not asking for the federal government to give us the contract back,” Berg said. “It’s asking the federal government to ensure that this contract be given to a qualified nonprofit group. Now, if the court decides that, I believe USDA would have very few options other than to give it back to us.”
Berg said that the last time the contract was up for renewal, Hunger Free America was the only entity that bid for it. According to Berg, the contract has been set at $250,000 and hasn’t gone up in value over the past 10 years.
“It’s the opposite of a lucrative contract,” Berg said. “We have to raise private funds to supplement the federal contract. Because we did a great job running it, our renewal was basically pro forma.”
According to the complaint, Hunger Free America received satisfactory or higher reviews each year it held the USDA contract. If Hunger Free America doesn’t get its contract renewed by June 27, Berg said the nonprofit will have no choice but to shut down the hotline and either layoff or reassign staff.
“The reason we’re spending money out of our own pocket now is because this is a function that’s so key. And the people who call us are at the end of their ropes. They’ve tried getting help from local governments. They’ve tried looking up stuff online,” Berg said. “Many have recently lost work or lost income, and they would never think in a million years that they would need this help.”
Since 2014, Hunger Free America has helped more than 228,735 callers locate food assistance programs.
As a former USDA employee, Berg said he understands the push for government efficiency. He received a “Hammer Award” from the Clinton administration’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government. The awards went to federal employees who contributed to government efficiency.
“There are ways to find smart efficiencies in the federal government, but this is not one way to do that,” he added.
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