Iowa seniors see food assistance interrupted after USDA "mistakes"

Federal "mistakes," USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack admitted, have led to food assistance shortages across the country, including for nearly 3,000 Des Moines metro seniors.

Why it matters: The federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program provides free food to hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors monthly.

• Its struggles are forcing recipients to turn to area food pantries, which have already experienced record-high demand in recent months.

Driving the news: As of Wednesday, a warehouse storing food for metro seniors was virtually empty due to weeks of delivery delays, Mike Maiers, who manages Polk County's supplemental food program, told supervisors that day.

• Some staples like cheese were no longer available, and the program's main distribution center was at risk of temporarily closing had others run out.

The latest: Polk County received a delivery a few hours after Maiers' report, which allowed the program to resume cheese distribution.

• Another delivery is scheduled for Friday and four are scheduled for Tuesday, Doug Stodgel, a program administrator for Polk County Community, Family and Youth Services, tells Axios.

Catch up quick: This year, USDA awarded the program's distribution contract to a single company rather than two, as had been the case in previous years.

• Shortly after the contract took effect in April, distribution faltered, which caused food shortages that hit tribal populations the hardest, Politico reports .
• Vilsack acknowledged flaws in the delivery system to Politico last week.
• He said USDA plans to temporarily bring back the second distributor and has called in FEMA to help, too.

Threat level: Even with those changes, delays to the food assistance program are expected to continue for months, per Politico.

• Other USDA programs that help supply the Food Bank of Iowa and Des Moines Public Schools have not been delayed, officials from those institutions tell Axios.

What's next: Polk County is asking state officials to help secure federal grant money to pay for up to $135,000 of locally produced foods to supplement the missing inventory, Maiers said.