FEMA hired a one-person company to send 30 million meals to Puerto Rico. Instead, it got 'a logistical nightmare.'


After Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, many islanders did not have access to food. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency's attempts to swiftly feed them didn't exactly go off without a hitch.
In one unsettlingly illustrative example, which The New York Times detailed on Tuesday, FEMA hired Tribute Contracting LLC in October, two weeks after the hurricane, to deliver 30 million meals to Puerto Rico. A little more than two weeks later, Tribute, which was set to earn $156 million for its work, had only made good on delivering 50,000 meals.
Tribute has just one employee — owner Tiffany Brown — who actually subcontracted a wedding caterer to prepare the meals. Her subcontractor didn't prepare enough meals as swiftly as FEMA wanted, and didn't package the food in "self-heating" bags, as Uncle Sam required, causing FEMA to cancel the contract, calling it "a logistical nightmare."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Brown, who likens herself to a "broker" of sorts, disputes FEMA's account and is demanding a $70 million settlement. Her subcontractors, meanwhile, are reportedly threatening to sue her too.
The whole thing sounds like a real mess. But the Times report is, unfortunately, just one of several stories that have emerged about the government and FEMA's failure to adequately provide emergency supplies to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricane. Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
'Actual poop' – the messy ending of 'And Just Like That...'
Talking Point Reviewers slam 'unfunny and hateful' finale to 'Sex and the City' reboot
-
'Animal Farm' at 80: Orwell's parable remains 'horribly' relevant
Talking Point George Orwell's warnings about authoritarianism and manipulation have been weaponised across the political spectrum
-
Will Ukraine trade territory for peace?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Kyiv’s defences are wearing thin but a land swap is constitutionally impossible and crosses Zelenskyy's red lines
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures