Mālama Kauaʻi, a nonprofit that works to boost local food production and access on the Garden Isle, had its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program accreditation revoked.
The organization announced last week that the United States Department of Agriculture was standing firm in its decision to rescind its SNAP eligibility, despite Mālama Kauaʻi reapplying and submitting an appeal.
Back in April, after its regularly scheduled audit, the USDA stated Mālama Kauaʻi had filed under the wrong business type. The organization originally registered as a farmers market, but USDA claimed it needed to file as a delivery route instead.
"They shut off our SNAP immediately the day of," said Mālama Kauaʻi Executive Director Megan Fox. "That was really upsetting for people to lose that access because a lot of our customers are people that don't have transportation to get to the grocery stores. There's a lot of kūpuna who use our service, and people who can't drive or carry groceries. So it was really sad."
Mālama Kauaʻi initially started operating in farmers markets, then eventually moved to an online service where they buy products from local farmers and deliver them to residents across the island. They work with more than 100 food producers to run programs like Kaukau 4 Keiki, Farm to School, various food hubs, and their normal weekly distributions.
Fox's organization has been operating with SNAP for over a decade in farmers markets, and started accepting SNAP at their food hubs in 2021.
After getting word that their SNAP accreditation was rescinded in April, Fox said they immediately reapplied under the correct delivery route category, but did not hear anything back from the federal government for months until USDA responded, asking for documentation to prove eligibility.
"My staff spent two days downloading and uploading over 5,000 pieces of documentation — every single receipt, every single vendor invoice for a multiple-month period," Fox said. "We pulled all of that, turned it around, and within eight hours, they emailed us back saying you're ineligible."
The final denial letter from the USDA last week stated that the type of online ordering and delivery system that Mālama Kauaʻi operates is ineligible to operate a SNAP program.
Fox said hundreds of residents are impacted by this and will now have to turn elsewhere for weekly food deliveries, adding that SNAP purchases make up at least 25% of the food hub's revenue.
She worries about the other small organizations and nonprofits across the country who operate on a similar delivery route and business model as hers.
"The small, mainly nonprofit, local food-focused organizations that focus on our local food systems are constantly getting nailed by the federal government around these opportunities right now, so it's concerning and definitely seems unfair," Fox said. "We still get people asking every week, 'Do you know when it's coming back?' And sadly, I'm gonna have to tell them, 'Hey, at this point, it's not coming back.'"
The organization has 30 days from the decision date to challenge it in court, or they may wait six months to reapply.
