Gil Zepeda
Farm Share Defends itself versus Feeding South Florida
“When government entities award contracts that are competitively bid, these decisions are frequently accompanied by challenges from other applicants who were not selected, as is the case here. To succeed, these challenges must establish flaws in the process, bias or issues with the award winner’s application(s).
In this case, Feeding South Florida is engaged in this classic strategy by making unfounded and misleading allegations and statements against Farm Share, FDACS and the five (5) impartial and experienced evaluators that scored the submitted applications. However, these allegations are not based on facts.
The Department, operating in complete transparency and in consideration of the information provided by Farm Share and other providers, awarded Farm Share contracts in several, but not all, of the regions it applied for, including Broward County. When making these awards, the Department had a full and accurate understanding of Farm Share's and Feeding South Florida’s capabilities, experience, and history of performance.
It is disheartening that another public service organization would attempt to attack and tarnish Farm Share’s reputation for the sole purpose of benefiting their own self-interest. Furthermore, falsely telling hungry people that food is being taken away from Broward County only stirs up fear and anxiety in those persons who rely on this food to survive. We are hopeful that this matter can be resolved quickly and the focus is put back on feeding hungry Floridians during these unprecedented times,"
Farm Share CEO - Stephen Shelley
For more information go to:
https://www.farmshare.org/response-to-feeding-south-florida
