Surplus food for Maine delayed

AUGUSTA — A state official says she suspects a disgruntled worker may be responsible for a one-month delay in shipments of federal surplus food to Maine.

Because the state’s share of food was canceled in December, about 60,000 Maine households will get their spring supply of surplus food in May instead of April, said Nicci Kobritz, director of the Division of Community Services.

However, Charles Dejulius, the Northeast regional public affairs director for the USDA’s food distribution program, said the food “wasn’t canceled — it wasn’t ordered.”

The confusion has resulted in an administrative review of the division, Kobritz said, adding that she also has asked the state Attorney General’s Office to get involved.

“Right now our primary focus is to get the food to the people,” she said.

Kobritz said she suspected that a former employee or present state employee might have canceled the order in retaliation for layoffs in her division last November.

“The staff person who was in charge of the distribution program says that she indeed ordered the food. The USDA said that they never received the food order, but that (it) instead received a phone call in December that the food had been canceled because there wasn’t enough room in the state warehouse,” Kobritz said.

“They (USDA) also remember getting a memo from the (Maine) Division of Community Services canceling the food, but they can’t locate the memo,” she added.

The federal program, known as the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, supplies surplus commodities such as flour, cornmeal, butter, peanut butter and canned pork. The food is distributed to the needy through community action agencies.