Agency faces food and financial hardship

[File photo]

An Ocala-based food bank that has served the area for nearly 30 years is facing both financial hardship and, more importantly, a significant loss in the amount of food it receives after a change in distributors for government food aid late last year.

First Step Food Bank was denied a sub-distribution contract in September by Homestead-based Farm Share, which was awarded the regional distribution contract for the federally-funded The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) last spring.

“It’s not a good position to be in; we’re struggling,” said First Step Executive Director Peter Del Toro, who has been with the agency for 17 years. “It’s certainly impacted our ability to supply food to others.”

Farm Share’s decision came despite First Step’s good standing and years-long service as a sub-distributor for the government food aid program, which supplies food to food banks, soup kitchens, pantries and low-income households.

In a letter sent out to sub-distributors shortly after it was notified it had won the contract, Farm Share said it was its “intent to continue working with existing TEFAP distributors in the region.”

Even so, Farm Share declined First Step’s application. First Step for years had a contract with Second Harvest Food Bank in Orlando, the former contract holder for TEFAP distribution in Central Florida, which includes Marion County.

“We dealt with them until the bitter end,” said Stewart Robinson, president of First Step Food Bank, which provides food to more than 40 area food pantries and soup kitchens, 14 of which receive TEFAP food. “We turned in our application with all the data needed and they decided not to honor it.”

However, Alfio Ferrea, Farm Share’s Statewide Manager for the USDA program, in a September 20th email exchange with First Step, said the decision was based on First Step wanting to be the sole source distributor of TEFAP in Marion County and continue doing so under the same terms and conditions as it was operating at the time.

“Unfortunately, this is not an option at this time,” Ferrea said. In a previous email Farm Share said it already had a longstanding relationship with another agency in Marion County but was willing to allow First Step to have “fifty percent of the current TEFAP agencies in Marion County or approximately seven agencies,” among other conditions.

First Step responded by saying it believed Farm Share should have included it in its plan after finding out First Step was the TEFAP SDA (sub-distribution agency) for the “existing network in Marion County.”

“We don’t think Farm Share’s proposal was ‘exactly legal,’” said Robinson.

The Florida Department of Agriculture’s decision to award multiple regional multi-million-dollar contracts to Farm Share created an outcry among South Florida food banks and advocates for the poor, saying it lacked the ability to handle the distribution, said Robinson.

Pembroke-Park-based Feeding South Florida, a former regional TEFAP distributor for that area, strenuously objected to Farm Share’s award of the contract and contended errors by some of the evaluators who did the scoring tipped the outcome to Farm Share, according to a June article published in the “South Florida Sun-Sentinel.”

Following the protest, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried reviewed the agency’s decision but ultimately stood by Farm Share’s award of the contract.

“It’s a stinking situation,” said Sam Baggett, a First Step board director. “The evaluation process was a farce.”

The loss of the sub-distribution contract for First Step is two-fold, said Robinson.

“Our main worry is that there are more people needing food especially now with inflation and we’ve lost a significant ability to bring in food for distribution,” he said. “There will be a food gap here in Marion County.”

The contract loss also means a $60,000 decrease in revenue this fiscal year from administrative fees it charged as a central distribution point, said Robinson.

“Coupled with an increase in what we are paying to purchase food outright, we’re facing an $80,000 total loss this year,” he said.

While First Step receives donations from the public and food overages from grocery store chains, including Publix, Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie, and is still purchasing food from Second Harvest at a discounted rate, it’s not enough to overcome the deficit.

The agency for the first time recently applied for help from United Way, said Robinson.

“We are seeking out other sources of revenue and doing everything we can to continue to serve the needy in Marion County,” he said.

Baggett said he’s not sure how long First Step can manage to hold on.

“We have to find a way to make up the missing funds,” he said. “Otherwise, we will be out of business.”