In the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, Jat Brothers Inc., operating as Main Street Markets & Deli, has filed a lawsuit against the United States of America. The case ID is 3:24-cv-00314-SDD-EWD and was filed on April 18, 2024. The suit challenges a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that disqualified Main Street Markets from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for six months.
Jat Brothers Inc., represented by their counsel, is based in Clinton, Louisiana. The complaint stems from a Final Agency Decision (FAD) dated March 25, 2024, which resulted in the disqualification. Main Street Markets serves an impoverished community in Clinton and sells SNAP-eligible staple food items.
The FNS accused Main Street Markets of violating SNAP regulations by accepting SNAP benefits in exchange for common non-food items such as sandwich bags, foam bowls, cutlery, aluminum foil, cups, napkins, and plates. This allegation was made in a letter sent to Main Street Markets by FNS's Retailer Operations Division on November 8, 2023.
Jat Brothers Inc. seeks judicial review of this decision and insists that these items are not "common nonfood items" under FNS’s regulations or otherwise. They argue that no other SNAP-authorized retail food store in their vicinity carries as wide an array of SNAP-eligible items at comparable prices.