Despite Feeding Our Future (FOF) failing to present an acceptable plan for serving hungry children, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) approved the nonprofit’s annual applications and budget amendments amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. A June 13 report from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) also found that MDE’s “actions and inactions” created “opportunities for fraud.”
The U.S. Department of Justice charged a total of 70 people between September 2022 and February 2024 over FOF’s alleged scheme, which prosecutors say cost taxpayers $250 million. Federal officials say they have recovered about $50 million.
When the nearly four-year relationship was finally terminated in 2022, FOF employees are alleged to have already spent much of the stolen funds that were supposed to cover meals and snacks for low-income students, according to the report….
