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bjbj Now I d like to bring your attention to a unique opportunity with USDA foods. I
m going to hand it off to my colleague, Mary Beth Flowers who works for our Food Distribution
division here at USDA FNS. Prior to this is interesting prior to her federal service,
Mary Beth served eight years as a food service supervisor with Alexandria City Public Schools
in Virginia and was integral in starting their Summer Food Service Program in Alexandria,
Virginia. So go ahead and take it away, Mary Beth. Thank you, Jimmy. So have you heard
of USDA Foods? Formerly it was called Commodities or Donated Foods or Commodity Assistance.
But USDA Foods are a highly untapped resource for summer food sponsors. Here are some interesting
facts. We here at the USDA purchase more than $2-billion worth of food each year. These
foods are 100% American grown and meet our highest safety and nutrition standards. We
then distribute these foods through the state to food banks, soup kitchens, schools, summer
camps, and other nutrition assistance programs. Did you know that USDA Foods provide approximately
15% to 20% of the foods offered in each school meal? So let s make that transition into summer
and keep that link going. In the simplest terms, USDA Foods are low cost, healthy foods
that can reduce program costs. These foods range from fresh fruits, vegetables, meat,
poultry and cheese, to non-perishable items ranging from canned fruits and vegetables,
dried fruit, peanut butter, whole grain pasta, and rice, just to name a few. This means if
you are a sponsor in a rural area and prepping your own meals you can obtain some USDA foods
that will help to stretch your Summer Food Service Program budget for the summer. Obtaining
USDA Foods helps to reduce food buying costs because in most states summer sponsors are
only charged for the delivery or distribution fee rather than the full value that it would
cost them commercially. The amount of USDA foods that each sponsor can receive is based
on the meal claims they submitted the year before, then multiply the number of meals
served the prior year by one-and-a-half cents to calculate each sponsor s allotment or dollars.
Sponsor s orders are based on how much allotment they received and the value of the foods that
are offered to them. If this is your first year as a sponsor, don t worry, the state
distributing agency will adjust existing orders to ensure you receive some USDA foods for
your program. The kinds of foods that are available for summer feeding are the foods
that are offered to schools for the National School Lunch Program. We ve provided a link
to our Foods Available list so you can look at the types of foods that are offered to
schools to get an idea of what you might be offered. Each state decides annually what
it can offer to summer sites, and usually that decision is based on the USDA Food s
orders they have already scheduled for delivery to schools at the end of the school year.
And sometimes it s based on what inventory they have in their state or commercially-contracted
warehouses that influences what s offered to you. So what s offered will be different
from state to state. For example, this year in Virginia the state distributing agency
is offering commercial sizes of canned kernel corn, diced peaches, spaghetti sauce, frozen
peas, and whole grain spaghetti. Just a note, the Summer Food Service allotment cannot be
rolled over to the next year. It must be used in the year that it s given. So you would
use up all of it in the summer but that won t be hard to do. So a lot of summer sponsors
are eligible to receive USDA Foods. This includes self-preparation sponsors including school
food authorities; meaning sponsors that prepare the meals that they distribute at sites or
sponsors who have entered into an agreement with a school or school food authority to
prepare summer meals. Even if you haven t contracted with the school districts to make
your meals, you still could be qualified to have USDA Foods delivered to your summer vendor
for use in summer meals. School districts that operate the Summer Food Service Program
can ask their state distributing agency to set up a separate USDA Foods Summer Food Service
Program account so USDA Foods school inventory can easily be used in the summer program to
add to the USDA Foods summer order they may receive, realizing additional programs stated.
Now that you know that you are eligible, the next step is to contact the agency in your
state that administers the Summer Food Service Program and ask for more information regarding
obtaining USDA Foods for your Summer Food Service Program. Some things to think about
when you re making that call: what schools in my community utilize USDA Foods for their
school lunch program? Are these schools participating in summer meals this year; if so, how can
I team up with them? Ask your states who can you talk to regarding obtaining USDA Foods
directly through your organization. There are some creative ways summer food service
sponsors and their sites can benefit from this program, and we re going to hear about
some of those today. Your organization does not have to have to have a USDA Food agreement
to place an order to obtain USDA Foods; however you do need to be an approved Summer Food
Service Program sponsor. States ask Summer Food Service Program sponsors to place summer
USDA food orders in advance. In addition, state distributing agencies can transfer USDA
Foods from school food authorities to summer sponsors, but approval is needed. Also, if
a local school district is not your summer vendor, it would be helpful to establish a
partnership with them early in the year to see if they would be willing to be your vendor
or if they d be willing to donate some of their USDA food inventory to your food service
program when the school year ends. It s highly likely you ll be feeding their children too.
If you ve already placed your Summer Food Service Program USDA Foods order with your
state distributing agency, an additional inventory transfer from your local school or district
would increase the amount of USDA Foods you can receive to use in your program and realize
additional savings for you.Some states find it a financial burden to ship USDA Foods to
remote rural areas. One way to lessen this burden might be for rural sponsors to have
their shipments come in along with local school district USDA Food shipments in one of their
last deliveries for the school year. Some states have already set up contracts with
distributors to deliver to rural sites, and Summer Food Service sponsors only need to
pay for the distribution fee per case. There are a variety of creative ways the states
are able to deliver USDA Foods or facilitate deliveries to sponsors. Check with your state
agency to find out how they do it in your states. Ultimately, the best way to make sure
you have access to this resource is to start planning now. Since USDA food orders deadlines
vary from state to state, the earlier you order, the better. We recommend that you call
your state agency this week to find out how you can order USDA Foods for your Summer Food
Service Program. So let s get moving. Off to you, Jimmy. Okay, thank you, Mary-Beth.
USDA SFSP Mary Beth Transportation 04-03-13 KC PAGE PAGE &`#$ gd2&C [Content_Types].xml
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