An exclusive Food as a Verb report detailing 700+ pages of internal emails from Tenn. Dept. of Agriculture

In February 2024, the CEO of a Tennessee food bank emailed a high-ranking Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) official from her iPhone.

The subject line? LFPA Plus. 

The email was one line only.

"Are you guys applying for this?"

It was a reference to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program Plus (LFPA Plus), the second of two federal grants offered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to all states, territories and tribes.

Forty-seven other US states applied, according to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.

But not Tennessee, as TDA missed multiple deadlines and eventually lost out on $7.2 million for farmers, food banks and hungry families.

In 2022, TDA applied for and received $8.2 million in LFPA funding - this was the first USDA grant, originally called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program - allowing Tennessee's five food banks to purchase at retail prices produce, meat, honey, apples and eggs from small Tennessee farmers; the food banks distributed that food to hungry families.

"It was a godsend," one farmer said.

Yet when given the chance to apply for LFPA Plus, which offered a second round of $7.2 million in potential funding, TDA did not submit an application.

Even though the food bank CEO's question was nine months late - the LFPA Plus deadline had long passed - it still articulated the confusion held by countless farmers, food banks and families.

Are you guys applying for this?

Soon after receiving the food bank CEO's email, Chris Eaton, TDA's Assistant Commissioner, forwards the email to a colleague.

"Hey Samantha - I just got this from second harvest with no additional info. I remember that you and Rachel were the ones that USDA said they contacted about this previously. Have you gotten any federal notifications about this?" Eaton wrote.

Minutes later, a reply:

"I do believe the LFPA Plus ship has sailed unless there's a new LFPA that I haven't been made aware of."

The ship has sailed. 

For months, Food as a Verb has been reviewing more than 750 pages of internal emails describing TDA's internal processes and conversations related to LFPA and LFPA Plus, all looking for the answer to the question posed by so many elected officials, farmers, citizens and food banks:

How did this happen? 

How did TDA neglect to apply for a life-saving, federally-funded grant that supported and strengthened Tennessee farmers and families?

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Earlier this spring, after Tennessee legislators and citizens across the state took notice, the $7.2 million was restored, allowing TDA to release a new grant earlier this fall. (The new grant is similar to LFPA Plus.)

Yet, when the LFPA Plus deadline was missed, did TDA respond with proactive urgency and alarm?

If the state legislature could remedy this mistake, why didn't TDA initially?

The ship has sailed.

Apparently, not.

TDA and the First LFPA grant

On October 13, 2022, a TDA employee named Samantha Wilson submitted the LFPA grant application to USDA.

Another TDA employee's name – Rachel Wilson – was listed on the application.

"Rachel Sullivan is the program staff member responsible for grants," said Kim Doddridge, TDA's Public Information Officer. "As Chief Budget Officer, Samantha Wilson is required to sign for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture."

(The transcript of questions-and-answers between Food as a Verb and TDA can be found at the end of this report.)

The grant had multiple requirements; USDA included a strong suggestion that the states use funding for "socially-disadvantaged farmers" as an attempt to uplift farmers who, for many reasons, have been historically ignored.

In 2017, for example, there were only 40 Black farmers in Tennessee under the age of 35, the Nashville Scene reported.

The USDA is very clear about the definition of socially-disadvantaged on its website:

The USDA defines socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (SDFRs) as those belonging to groups that have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice. SDFRs include farmers who are Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian or Pacific Islander. For some but not all USDA programs, the SDFR category also includes women.

Inside TDA, Mike Brown, a member of the business development team, balked.

"I believe it is important to recognize the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for the aggressive position that was taken to benefit ALL farmers. Geographically and financially disadvantaged farmers were also allowed to benefit from the LFPA program. If we limited participation in this program to farmers who strictly fit the USDA definition, the opportunities for successful implementation would have been extremely limited," he wrote.

On October 13, 2022, just before 5 pm, Wilson submitted the grant application.

The very next day, TDA announced it had received $8.2 million in LFPA funds.

In 2023, thanks to LFPA funding, TDA partnered with our state's five food banks, 115 farms and 300 partner organizations, said Doddridge.

Locally, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank (CAFB) contracted with seven regional farmers to distribute fresh food to 38 hunger-relief partner organizations.

"Eggs, beef, mountains of produce," said Jeannine Carpenter, the CAFB's Chief of Communications.

Across the state, farmers and food banks were overjoyed at the steady and reliable funding, which allowed expansion, capacity-building and the ability to serve more people.

Across the US, 49 states and 28 tribes participated in the LFPA grant, according to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.

In Dec. 2022, USDA announced a second round of funding: LPFA Plus. Tennessee could receive another $7.2 million in 2024 to continue the farmer-to-food bank-to-families program.

The initial deadline to apply was March 31, 2023.

TDA did not apply.

Then, USDA extended the deadline to May 12.

TDA did not apply.

The deadline passed. The grant closed. TDA had missed out on $7.2 million in funding.

The Unsuccessful Second Wave of  "LAFP"

Four months later, in September 2023, senior leadership was alerted.

"I cannot say precisely when the first Tennessee Department of Agriculture employee became aware of a missed deadline," said Corinne Gould, TDA's Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs. "Senior leadership was notified Sept. 27, 2023 by TDA staff."

On Sept. 27, 2023, Mike Brown emailed seven TDA colleagues, including Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, in an attempt to explain what happened.

"When we applied for the first round of LFPA, we were not informed of a potential second round of funding. The USDA did not notify us about the second round. The information about the second round was posted on the USDA website, and business development does not have a dedicated employee assigned to monitoring federal websites for upcoming grant opportunities," he emailed.

"I don’t have a perfect answer to your question about preventing this in the future. This failure has identified a strong need within our division and we are working to avoid repeating it."

USDA, however, said otherwise.

A spokesperson for USDA Agricultural Marketing Service said multiple emails were sent along with multiple announcements about LFPA Plus in monthly meetings with LFPA participants.

"Six separate notifications and reminder emails were sent directly to all government points of contact indicated on their initial LFPA proposals, as well as anyone who had signed up for email updates from the USDA Commodity Procurement Program (CPP)," the spokesperson said.

"The LFPA Plus application process was also discussed during monthly office hours meetings held during the open application period, to which all LFPA-participating government representatives were invited to attend."

On Nov. 6, 2023, TDA Commissioner Charlie Hatcher emailed the USDA's Chris Purdy, seeking an extension or remedy.

In his email, Hatcher repeatedly misspells LFPA Plus, calling it "LFAP plus" and "LFAP." His email contains multiple grammatical mistakes.

"Mr. Purdy,
"Thanks for listening relative to Tennessee missing out on LFAP plus. I've been unsuccessful in finding out who was contacted in Tennessee about the second wave of LFAP. As far as I can tell, no one was directly contacted within my department or was there follow up as we have experienced with the roll out of other USDA grants like RFSI . I’m still facing continued criticism in not participating in LFAP plus especially after a successful roll out of LFAP. LFAP is a very popular program with our local food banks and farmers. If there are any unused funds or new funds available for this purpose , please let me know. Charlie"

Three hours later, Purdy responds, informing the commissioner of the two TDA employees listed as LFPA Plus contacts.

"Hello Mr. Hatcher, it was a pleasure to meet you. We have assembled a few notes about our outreach to our state contacts. We made numerous attempts to reach our LFPA state contacts including Rachel Sullivan and Samantha Wilson in TN about the additional available funds. If there are additional people we should include in future communications please let us know. We are continuing to look at this matter and will be back in touch."

(Months later, TDA would admit that USDA emails were, indeed, sent to their department. "After speaking with USDA, we don't dispute that they sent emails to our staff," Doddridge said recently.)

By mid-November 2023, word spread across the state. One Tennessee sheep farmer called his legislator, whose assistant contacted TDA, calling the farmer "very polite but very disturbed" that the grant funding was missed.

Within TDA, there seemed more questions than answers.

"I don't know if we have designated a contact person for these programs, as of yet," stated Assistant Commissioner Andy Holt, in an email to TDA leadership on Nov. 20.

"We are currently trying to create a process for identifying, evaluating, pursuing and managing USDA & other grant opportunities. That said, I think this issue is one that will be resolved once we have a system in place."

Then, nothing.

Between Nov. 2023 and Feb. 2024, there is little, if any, indication of high-priority internal email correspondence within TDA regarding LFPA Plus, according to 757 pages of email documents obtained by Food as a Verb.

No email indication of TDA attempting to urgently or comprehensively remedy the missing $7.2 million.

No email indication of an all-hands-on-deck plan to create new and protective safeguards.

No email indication of any proactive, compassionate communication to affected farmers.

No indication that TDA emailed any state legislator, governor's aides or state comptroller to quickly restore the missing funds.

No email indication that TDA coordinated a high-level galvanized response in the face of such an emergency as losing a potential $7.2 million in funds.

When asked, TDA officials cannot produce any email documentation from those winter months detailing any coordinated, concentrated, widespread attention on LFPA Plus.

It seems to have sailed away.

“Your assessment is incorrect,” said Doddridge. “As noted in the public records request delivery, we have reviewed our internal processes, increased the number of recipients for USDA notifications, and are in the process of centralizing grant application and management tasks.

“Additionally, as stated previously, we began to work with partners to determine solutions as soon as we learned our extension request had been denied. A small fraction of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s work is done via email. Therefore, reading emails will not provide a comprehensive picture of steps taken.”

Doddridge said TDA did not communicate directly with farmers "since they are not direct recipients of these funds."

Doddridge said TDA officials participated in multiple winter meetings with food bank officials. Commissioner Hatcher asked employees to alert Food as a Verb to the fact that he received an award from the state food banks earlier that year.

"Nobody Was More Upset Than I"

In February 2024, Food as a Verb emailed TDA officials asking about the missing LFPA Plus grant application.

As TDA formulated answers to Food as a Verb questions, one TDA official suggested partial blame lay elsewhere.

With food banks.

"Communication runs two ways," wrote Corinne Gould, Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, in an email to Chris Eaton. "Did any of the food banks reach out to ask about this program to confirm TDA would apply?"

Then, on Feb. 19, 2024, TDA met Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, a Republican from Signal Mountain.

More meetings with legislators would soon follow.

All winter and spring, Chattanooga Area Food Bank's Jeannine Carpenter had been meeting with state officials and representatives, searching for some solution or the tiniest sliver of hope. Democrats, Republicans, any and all who would listen. Carpenter recalls meeting with nearly every legislator in Nashville, with widespread concern among them.

Then, after Food as a Verb began our exclusive reporting in late February, many citizens and readers got involved.

On March 7, a staffer for State Representative Greg Martin emails TDA, requesting a meeting because his office has "received many emails."

On Monday March 18, 2024, three more representatives - including Chattanooga's Yusuf Hakeem, a Democrat - requested a meeting with TDA officials.

The next day, March 19, 2024, the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee held its weekly meeting.

Sen. Bo Watson – a Republican from Hixson – and committee members spent nearly 30 minutes questioning TDA officials.

"Was there a logical, rational decision for not applying for those federal grants?" Watson began.

"We actually missed this grant," said TDA Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher. "We missed the deadline."

The video can be seen here, starting at 21 minutes.

"I was made aware that we had missed the deadline a year after almost that we missed it. Nobody was more upset than I was about it, to leave money on the table," Hatcher said.

"Looking into the matter, it looks like they had sent – USDA had sent – some generic emails to a few of people in our grant section, but never was there a direct addressed email to me or anybody else to ask us whether we want to go a second round. Regardless, we missed it and I’m going to own that part of it," he continued.

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(In the committee meeting, questions also turned to Assistant Commissioner Chris Eaton. A partial transcript of Eaton's responses can be found here.)

Watson repeatedly asked TDA officials: why was there no attempt to include the missing $7.2 million in your upcoming budget?

By the time TDA officials realized the missing deadline, they had already submitted their budget, they responded. To prevent such a mistake from happening, TDA officials told the committee members about improving relationships and communication with multiple groups: USDA to food banks to farmers.

During this, Watson and other committee members - Sen. Joey Hensley, Sen. Jeff Yarbro, Sen. Dawn White - worked in effective, bipartisan ways.

On March 20, 2024 - the day after the committee meeting - TDA officials were still asking questions about what exactly happened.

Within the state legislature, a tremendous bipartisan effort was underway to restore funding. Between February and July 2024, TDA would meet with no fewer than 13 state legislators related to LFPA Plus.

On Thursday, April 18, as it passed its $52.8 billion budget, Tennessee lawmakers voted to restore $7.2 million in lost funding for small farmers, families and food banks.

In August, TDA used the restored funds to launch the Farm-to-Food Bank grant: food banks could contract with area farmers in a similar LFPA-process, then submit reimbursement requests to TDA.

The new grant is funded from unspent, residual American Rescue Plan funds leftover from other state departments.

The funding does not come from TDA's budget.

TDA will not announce if anyone was held responsible for the LFPA Plus mistake.

"We do not comment on the performance of any individuals," said Doddridge.

TDA has yet to offer an official apology.

When asked if TDA was grateful for the new $7.2 million in funding - thanks to months of tireless work from advocates, citizens and elected officials - TDA officials responded with the following statement:

"As stated previously, through numerous in-person meetings and events and conferences, we are strengthening our relationships with regional, state, and federal partners so we can recognize and leverage future funding opportunities for food programs," Doddridge said.

"The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s mission is to serve and promote agriculture and forestry in Tennessee and we take that responsibility very seriously. We look forward to seeing the outcome of the Farm-to-Food Bank program."

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Beginning in February 2024, Food as a Verb asked a series of questions to TDA officials Kim Doddridge and Corinne Gould.

Here are their answers.

• In the weeks following the realization that TDA missed the LFPA Plus deadline, did TDA contact any legislator about finding solutions to locate funds that would remedy the missing $7.2 million? Did TDA contact anyone in our state government outside of TDA? If so, who and what was the nature of the conversation? If not, why not?

We worked with Financial Stimulus Accountability Group to reallocate unused funds for the program that would become Farm to Food Bank.

• On the LFPA grant application, Rachel Sullivan is named as grant manager. Samantha Wilson submits the application. Other emails indicate both are involved from the beginning. Did they not receive USDA emails? Or, were the emails received and somehow missed/ignored/overlooked?

After speaking with USDA, we don’t dispute that they sent emails to our staff. Rachel Sullivan is the program staff member responsible for grants.

As Chief Budget Officer, Samantha Wilson is required to sign for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture or on behalf of the Agriculture Commissioner to allow us to spend and administer funds.

• How many TDA employees were receiving USDA notifications in 2022? How many will receive them now after TDA has “increased the number of recipients”?

TDA is not able to gather historical data on which employees were receiving USDA emails and from which USDA division in 2022.

There are six additional staff members who are now receiving USDA notices related to food programs.

• In the days and weeks following Nov. 2023, when senior leadership realized the LFPA grant deadline had passed, did TDA officials meet with any state legislator during that time? Or anyone in the governor’s office? Or anyone involved in the budgeting process in an attempt to reallocate or remedy the missing grant funds? If so, please describe the nature of the meetings. If not, why not?

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture worked with the Governor’s office, legislators, and the Stimulus Financial Accountability Group to find solutions that would create a continuation of funding for the purpose of the grant.

The outcome was the Farm to Food Bank program. Due to calendar retention policies and that phone calls were not recorded, the list below does not represent all discussions.

The nature of meetings was to discuss LFPA funding and to identify solutions that would aid food banks. 

week of 2/19/2024 Rep. Patsy Hazelwood

week of 2/26/2024 Rep. Greg Vital

3/14/2024 Senator Janice Bowling, Senator Kerry Roberts, Senator Bo Watson, Rep. Greg Martin, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem

3/19/2024 Rep. Jesse Chism, Rep. G.A. Hardaway, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem

4/10/2024 Black Caucus Meeting

4/14/2024 Rep. Brock Martin and Rep. Lowell Russell

7/19/2024 Rep. Mary Littleton and Senator Kerry Roberts

• Were there any plans in place to remedy this? Had the events of this spring and summer not taken place – Food as a Verb’s (along with Civil Eats and the Tennessean) reporting, state legislators’ involvement, civic outcry - were there any TDA plans to find a way to supplement/replace the lost $7.2 million? If so, please describe the plans. If not, why not?

As stated previously, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture began to work with partners to determine solutions as soon as we learned our extension request had been denied. The Farm to Food Bank program will mimic LFPA+ with no gaps in funding.

• Did TDA alert food banks and Tennessee farmers about the missing LFPA Plus deadline/lack of funding? If so, when and how? If not, why not? There is no email record of this. Did TDA send any alert or message to food banks and farmers once TDA realized the LPFA Plus deadline had passed and/or funding would not be available?

As stated previously, the timeline for communication was:

November 29, 2023 – This meeting was to discuss LFPA, the missed deadline for LFPA+, and to consider options for support moving forward. This meeting also included food bank representatives honoring Commissioner Hatcher with an award and recognizing the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as the 2023 Food Donor of the Year.

January 5, 2024 – Food bank representatives were invited to – and did attend—a statewide ag industries partners meeting to build stronger relationships among the food banks and agricultural leaders.

January 29, 2024 – This follow up meeting included discussion of potential options for additional funding and suggestions for ways to build stronger relationships among food banks and other state agencies.

February 28 - 29, 2024 – There were numerous discussions and some formal meetings with various food bank representatives and federal partners during the food banks’ Southeast Regional Meeting.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture would not send individual correspondence to farmers since they are not direct recipients of these funds.

• Why does Tennessee lack “officially recognized socially disadvantaged farmers”? Does that mean TDA is not tracking farmer demographics, including socially disadvantaged farmers? Or, is TDA claiming that the rate of socially disadvantaged farmers in Tennessee is low?

USDA defines and tracks officially recognized socially disadvantaged farmers. TDA broadened the qualification to optimize the number of farmers who could participate in LFPA.

• This is a reimbursement type of funding, correct? The Farm-to-Food Bank process: our state’s five food banks submit to TDA receipts for reimbursement of funds they spend initially to procure food from local farmers? Is that correct?

Yes.

• How much of the $7.2 million has TDA allocated/submitted to the five food banks so far?

No food bank has submitted a request for reimbursement under Farm to Food Bank as of Sept. 16, 2024.

• Does TDA know which part of the state’s residual funds is being allocated to the Farm-to-Food Bank funding?

As stated previously, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture does not know which part of the state’s residual funds were allocated.

We are aware that additional dollars were awarded to our budget from the State’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocation.

This was from residual funds redirected from other state projects realizing savings and coming in under budget.

• USDA told Commissioner Hatcher it repeatedly tried to contact “Rachel Sullivan and Samantha Wilson in TN.” Is TDA holding them accountable for missing the LFPA Plus deadline?

As stated previously, the staff members of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture work as a team and collaborate with local, state, regional, and federal partners to provide a variety of services and programs to the citizens of Tennessee. We do not comment on the performance of any individuals. 

• The overall tone of emails suggests a lack of urgency in response to missing the LFPA Plus deadlines. Of course, emails don’t capture an entire department’s response, yet, based on these 700+ pages of emails and an absence of any sort of proactive solution, it seems TDA was willing to let LFPA Plus dissolve without taking any long-lasting, urgent, proactive action. Please respond to this.

Your assessment is incorrect.

As noted in the public records request delivery, we have reviewed our internal processes, increased the number of recipients for USDA notifications, and are in the process of centralizing grant application and management tasks.

Additionally, as stated previously, we began to work with partners to determine solutions as soon as we learned our extension request had been denied.

A small fraction of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s work is done via email.

Therefore, reading emails will not provide a comprehensive picture of steps taken.

• Can you give specific examples of how TDA has changed any of its internal structure or processes because of the missed deadlines?

To reinforce our commitment to this area, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture has made strategic staffing adjustments, reallocating additional personnel and resources to enhance our capacity in grants management and related activities.

Staff actively seeks out grant opportunities that align with our mission and opportunities that we have resources to manage.

• Why would Mike Brown seem to circumvent USDA’s strong suggestion that LFPA funds go towards “socially-disadvantaged farmers” in Tennessee?

USDA defines socially disadvantaged farmers as those from groups historically subject to racial or ethnic prejudice but has no official definition of "racial or ethnic prejudice."

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture made LFPA open to all farmers because limiting participation to these groups would have delayed fund distribution, as Tennessee lacks enough officially recognized socially disadvantaged farmers to meet the agricultural needs of underserved citizens.

• Finally, can you offer some overall comments from TDA on this entire process? Is TDA thankful for the new funding? Are there lessons learned? Is the responsibility still with USDA for not communicating fully or is TDA taking responsibility for the missed emails?

As stated previously, through numerous in-person meetings and events and conferences, we are strengthening our relationships with regional, state, and federal partners so we can recognize and leverage future funding opportunities for food programs.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s mission is to serve and promote agriculture and forestry in Tennessee and we take that responsibility very seriously.

We look forward to seeing the outcome of the Farm-to-Food Bank program.