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USDA School Foods Update 

August 2021

Welcome Back!

Thanks to all that attended the Back to School Workshops. Wow, we had great turnouts, it was so nice to see you all in person. 

Expect to receive future email blasts and all newsletters sent in this format of: GovDelivery! All of NDDPI will be using this format for communication. If you or others from your school are not receiving these messages, please check your junk mail box. If these messages happens to go there, change your email rules to allow GovDelivery messages to go to your inbox! 

I wish you all a great year and never hesitate to call with questions. 

USDA DoD Fresh Program

Schools that participate in DoD Fresh should log into FFAVORS and verify their entitlement amounts and contact information. If you think your delivery day is not correct please reach out to me and I will look into it.  Best practices for recipient agencies: Place orders that meet a minimum of $105 Inspect product at time of delivery Reject non-domestic produce Receipt order in FFAVORS within 3 days Monitor entitlement balance  Utilize entitlement within school year

School Entitlement 

ND opted into Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Opt-In Waiver for School Year (SY) 2020- 2021 National School Lunch Program USDA Foods Entitlement Calculations. This means that for the 21-22 school year we will be using 18-19 total lunch counts to calculate entitlement values. ND has not had a full year of NSLP lunch counts since school year 18-19. At this time USDA expects SY22 lunch counts will be used to calculate SY 23 entitlement amounts due to operating under SSO (Seamless Summer Option).  

School Year 2020-2021 entitlement spent report can be found on our website.

USDA Monthly Food Surveys/Orders

The monthly survey schedule can be found on our website. The September survey has been closed. You can access orders in NDFOODS . Surveys are closed 2 weeks prior to your delivery month. Once a survey is closed I would recommend logging into NDFOODS and checking your order to confirm what you are receiving.  The November survey will be available September 7-19.

Food Updates

• Dried cranberries delivery is delayed. The original delivery date was 7/15/21, the updated delivery date is 9/10/21. If they come in in time they will be on October orders.
• JTM announced the CP5813 seasoned beef steak is being discontinued. Unfortunately this only gives us four beef items under JTM, two being hamburger patties. We will be working on adding a item or two to the contract so we can have some variety.
• As mentioned at the Back to School Workshop's we are seeing price increases due to labor & supply issues. Yang's (Asian chicken vendor) increased processing fees that range from 11.5% to 13% per case. Tyson (chicken vendor) just informed me that they will be increasing our processing fees per case effective October 1. I have not yet received the details on the Tyson increase. I would expect the Tyson increase at your distributor level in addition to the items on the state bid. I expect we will continue to see price increases. 
• Schwan's has informed me that they will not be producing the listed items that are on the state contract. 
  • 78314 TONY’S™ Deep Dish 5” 51% WG Uncured Turkey Pepperoni Pizza
  • 78365 TONY’S® GALAXY PIZZA® 4” 51% WG Turkey Pepperoni Pizza
  • 78367 TONY'S® GALAXY PIZZA® 4" 51% WG Turkey Pepperoni Pizza IW
  • There are several commercial products (not through brown box) that they are not producing. These products would be through your distributor.
    • 63520 TONY’S® Deep Dish 5” Pork Pepperoni Pizza
    • 63521 TONY’S® Deep Dish 5” Supreme Pizza
    • 72580 TONY’S® Deep Dish 5” 51% WG Low Sodium Cheese/Cheese Sub Cheese Pizza
    • 72581 TONY’S® Deep Dish 5” 51% WG Low Sodium Cheese/Cheese Sub Pepperoni Pizza
    • 78369 TONY'S® Deep Dish 5" 51% WG Turkey Pepperoni Pizza
• Cargill will not be producing any of the IW products until 2022. 

Lets all work together!

• Be flexible with menu's
  • Do a cycle menu if you are not already
• Be patient with your delivery drivers
• Submit your demand to your distributors
  • Manufactures are requiring longer lead times
  • Communicate your manufacturer and brokers
    • What products are they producing the most of 

Contact Information

For all USDA School Food Distribution inquiries please contact:

Tara Koster - tkoster@nd.gov

NDDPI Child Nutrition and Food Distribution
Main Office:
600 E. Boulevard Ave, Dept 201
Bismarck, ND 58505
PHONE: 701-328-2294 or 888-338-3663
FAX: 701-328-9566
Email: dpicnfd@nd.gov
Mayville Office:
14 Main St E, Mayville, ND 58257
PHONE: 701-877-8901 or 888-788-8901
Website: www.nd.gov/dpi/SchoolStaff/ChildNutritionFoodDistribution

Non Discrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) E-mail: program.intake@usda.gov.