|
Pictured above: The 2016 winning photo from the Duval County School District in Jacksonville, Florida
USDA is having the 2nd
annual “Show Us Your Tray” photo contest! This is an opportunity to share the
wonderful meals you prepare for your students using USDA Foods! Your
submissions will provide other food service professionals with healthy,
fun meal ideas using USDA Foods as well. Photos must contain direct delivered (brown
box) USDA Foods. Photos may contain processed items or DoD
Fresh items, but photos containing only processed items or DoD Fresh products
will not be judged. To review which items are direct delivered, please visit
our Foods Available List for School Year (SY) 16-17.
Contest Details:
- Submit a photo of your prepared meal, using USDA Foods.
- Include your name, school district, and state with your submission.
Identify which foods are USDA Foods with your submission.
Photos:
- Please
ensure that photos are taken in good lighting in the highest resolution
possible.
- Ensure that the USDA Foods highlighted
in the photo(s) are clearly visible.
- Please do not send photos featuring people. These photos will not be
judged.
By submitting photos to this contest, you consent that they may be used
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and/or others with the consent of USDA,
for the purposes of illustration or publication in any legally authorized
manner. You understand that these pictures and information will be used in
educational materials, such as USDA brochures, newsletters, videos, or news
releases, to help others understand how USDA programs help people. The pictures
and information will not be used for any commercial, money-making purpose.
Judging Criteria:
USDA staff will determine a winner based on photo
quality and creative use of USDA Foods, with an emphasis on direct delivered (brown box) USDA Foods.
Contest Timeline:
The USDA Foods school photo contest begins December 1, 2016, and
ends February 15, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Please send all entries to the
USDA Foods mailbox (USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov).
The winning submission(s) will be featured in the March 2017 "USDA
Foods from Farm to Plate: Spotlight on Schools" e-letter!
 School Year 2017-2018 Foods Available List
Although it seems like the school year just began, USDA is already wrapping up work on the Foods Available List for next school year. States and school districts emphasized the importance of knowing what changes they can anticipate in USDA Foods to better plan for the orders they will submit in the spring. We are wrapping up our work on a number of new products, as well as product reformulations, that will help to improve the consistency between vendors and lower sodium in select products. The much-anticipated SY17-18 Foods Available List will be shared with State Agencies in December and will include a summary that details all new, reformulated, and eliminated items.
|
Both of our featured products are on the USDA Foods Available List for schools, and product information sheets are available. School districts interested in dried fruit mix and pepper/onion blend should contact their State's USDA Foods Program manager.
Dried fruit mix (material code 110161) was recently reformulated to include a standard 4-component fruit blend that kids would enjoy. The mix consists of equal portions of: diced dried apples, dried cherries, dried cranberries, and raisins. According to the Food Buying Guide, ¼ cup of dried fruit credits as ½ cup of fruit.
The
dried fruit mix is delivered in five 5-pound packages and can be ordered quarterly. The next delivery period is for
April-June 2017, and the catalog is open for
State Agencies to place orders until December 22. The dried fruit mix can be served plain or as a topping for oatmeal or yogurt to add a bit of color and flavor to the meal.
|
The pepper/onion blend (material code 110724) is a new option for schools this year! The blend consists of an equal mix of red peppers, green peppers, and onion cut into 3/8 inch wide strips. This item is delivered in six 5-pound packages and can be credited as an other vegetable.
States can order this product bi-annually, and the next chance to order this item will be the start of next school year for deliveries September-December 2017. The pepper/onion blend can be used in burritos, stir fries, casseroles, or hot wraps/sandwiches.
|
 New USDA Foods Banners!
USDA is delighted to announce that a new trio of USDA Foods
banner designs is now available online for State and local agencies to produce your own copies to display
at conferences, community events, food shows, and more! For a preview of the
designs and instructions on how to download the files and find a banner vendor
to produce your own set, visit the updated USDA
Foods Banner Kit. The Banner Kit provides a link to the
WatchDox workspace where you may download the artwork files. We hope you enjoy
these banners as you promote the benefits of USDA Foods!
MyPlate School Breakfast and Lunch Infographics
USDA recently released a new pair of two-page infographics: MyPlate Guide to School Breakfast and MyPlate Guide to School Lunch. These infographics highlight how school meals include a variety of healthy foods from each MyPlate food group and provide tips for families to help their children make healthy food and beverage choices. All are welcome to download these materials and make copies. Schools, childcare providers, and summer meal programs participating in one of USDA's Child Nutrition programs may also request printed materials.
|
 |
What do the military’s logistical network, peaches and peppers, and school
children have in common? The first delivers the second to the third through a
unique partnership between the Department of Defense (DoD) and USDA.
October was National Farm
to School Month and the perfect time to celebrate the DoD
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which connects schools with fresh and
often local produce using their USDA Foods
entitlement dollars. Schools order local foods from a variety of sources, and
according to the 2015 USDA
Farm to School Census, 29 percent of districts participating in farm to
school are receiving local foods through DoD Fresh. Read more
|
Fall SNA Industry Boot Camp
On November 10, USDA Foods staff presented information about the USDA Foods program to 35 members of industry at the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Industry Boot Camp. This event provided an opportunity for industry members to learn about the school meal program and think about how they can meet the needs of school districts. The USDA Foods session focused on topics such as the USDA Foods Available List, the ordering process, entitlement calculations, and the processing program. USDA always appreciates the opportunity to interact with and educate stakeholders, and the event offered a nice chance for dialogue with industry representatives.
 USDA Foods: Behind the Scenes
On October 31, the annual USDA/State Agency Meeting kicked off with pre-conference sessions, including "USDA Foods: Behind the Scenes." Attendees learned about the USDA Foods contracting process, how products are evaluated and added to the Foods Available List, timelines for reformulating and introducing new products, and how to provide feedback. The group then visited the USDA Test Kitchen to taste and evaluate seven new or recently reformulated USDA Foods products!
In this photo to the right, Chris Facha, USDA Food Distribution Program Coordinator at the Oregon Department of Education and American Commodity Distribution Association (ACDA) President Elect, samples the new pepper/onion blend served by USDA Foods Nutritionist Christina Riley.
The conference continued November 1-3 with sessions on a variety of topics useful to Child Nutrition and USDA Foods State Agency staff. This in-person meeting provided a valuable opportunity for USDA to dialogue with State Agency representatives and hear their ideas for improving the USDA Foods program!
|
 |
Jim Harmon, Christina Riley, and Julie Skolmowski at the USDA Foods booth at the annual USDA/State Agency Meeting
Unprocessed Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Success in New York
State
The 2014 Farm Bill authorized USDA’s Pilot
Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables (Pilot), which allows eight States to use existing
USDA Foods National School Lunch Program entitlement funds to competitively
solicit unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Many States are using the Pilot as a way to support local agriculture and farm
to school initiatives.
In New York, the Pilot was rolled out in December 2014 by
the New York Office of General Services (OGS). To attract potential
vendors, OGS traveled throughout the State, going from the barnyard to the
boardroom, seeking commitments from farmers and distributors to participate
in the Pilot. As a result of these trips, as well as partnerships with school
food service directors and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, New
York now has 18 eligible
vendors under the Pilot, with two additional vendors in New
Jersey that distribute to New York schools.
To date, 235 New York schools have committed over $2.6
million of USDA Foods entitlement funding to the Pilot in the 2016-2017 school
year. Students in districts throughout the State have been
able to try a great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables from Pilot vendors. Some products sold through the Pilot
include spinach, tomatoes, apples, onions, and cucumbers. The response from the students has been very
positive. New York is continuing outreach efforts to both schools
and potential vendors to ensure the overall success of the Pilot continues!
 USDA Foods Processing Visits
In September, USDA staff toured four USDA Foods national processors based in Pennsylvania: Tyson, Preferred Meals Systems, Maid-Rite
Specialty Foods, and Nardone’s Pizza.
Our first stop on the tour was Tyson. We met with Tyson staff
to discuss how they process USDA Foods chicken and cheese into fully cooked
chicken products and pizza items from their Bosco line. We were also given a
demonstration of the third party software system called K12 Foodservice. Tyson
uses this system to track processed products and schools use it to verify the
sales.
Our next stop on the tour was Preferred Meals Systems. We were given an overview of how their
business runs and tasted a pasta meal made for one of their airline customers. As we toured their facility, we saw how they prepare
and package school meals using USDA Foods products.
Next on the tour was Maid-Rite Specialty Foods. We saw
how they use several different manufacturing lines to prepare different meat
items, such as meatballs, beef steak sandwiches, and cubed beef that will be used in school meals.
Our last tour stop was Nardone’s
Pizza. In addition to their school products, they’re famous locally for their
pizza made with American cheese. As we toured their facility, we saw how they use
multiple production lines to make their whole pepperoni pizza and sliced cheese
pizza all at the same time.
This trip was a great opportunity to learn
more about USDA processors and hear their perspective on making certain USDA Foods products easier to work with.
|
What is a USDA Foods Complaint?
A USDA Foods Complaint is an issue with a USDA Foods product that is submitted formally through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System (WBSCM). The complaint must be entered by a State Distributing Agency (SDA), or under special circumstances, a member of the USDA Foods Complaint Team at Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Headquarters. Recipient Agencies (RA) who have issues/concerns about a USDA Foods item(s) should contact their SDA with as much information as possible. The goals of the USDA Foods Complaint Team are to provide responsive customer service, investigate and resolve issues, provide guidance and training on how to handle USDA Foods, and collaborate with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to resolve issues in collaboration with vendors. In order to expedite the complaint process, the State must have the following information to enter a complaint in WBSCM:
- Sales Order and Sales Order Line Item numbers
- Purchase Order and Purchase Order Line Item number
- Lot code (found on outside of cases or on cans)
- Date of delivery
- Date of incident
- Detailed Complaint description
- Quantity of product affected with unit of measure (cases)
- Quantity of product remaining with unit of measure (cases)
- Physical address of remaining product
- Contact name
- Contact organization
- Contact telephone
- Contact email
-
Pictures (include photos that clearly show what the problem is). Pictures of cases, cans, product, and product labels are very helpful to the Complaint Team and the vendor(s).
It is important to include all requested information when submitting a complaint to ensure timely responses from all stakeholders. The lack of data provided in WBSCM can delay the resolution process. Remember to take action immediately if product does not meet specifications.
For more information, review How to File a USDA Foods Complaint.
To better serve customers, there are additional communication channels to assist in complaint resolution. The Complaint Team is available Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Email USDAFoodsComplaints@fns.usda.gov or call the USDA Foods Complaint Hotline at 800-446-6991.
What’s New in FFAVORS
Release 1.17?
At the beginning of October, FFAVORS Release 1.17 was
implemented. A revised Ordering Manual is now available from within the FFAVORS
application via the ‘Help’ link.
One of the changes impacting customers is a verification
step added to the receipting process in the Fresh
Fruits and Vegetables Order Receipt System (FFAVORS). In some cases,
customers had been selecting a reason for quantity difference without changing
the quantity received. This required the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to contact both the receiving site and
the vendor to ensure the system accurately reflected what was delivered and the
vendor was compensated accordingly. With the new release, customers will be
prompted to adjust the ‘Case Receipt Qty’ (1) if a ‘Reason for Receipt Qty
Difference’ (2) other than 'N/A' is selected.
 This release also adds new columns for ‘Order Number’ and
‘Receipt Date’ to the Usage Report.
Reminder for New User requests: Please note that creating a Level 1 or Level
2 eAuthentication
(eAuth) account for USDA applications does not automatically grant access to
FFAVORS. DLA sets up ALL internal user profiles. New users will receive instructions to complete the eAuth registration
process after DLA has created a profile in FFAVORS.
Please direct any questions about FFAVORS orders or customer
accounts to the DLA
Service Representative for your state/region; existing users can also email
their assigned DLA support team via the ‘Contact FFAVORS Help Desk’ or ‘Email
Account Specialist’ links within the application. For general questions, login
assistance, and technical support, email ffavors@fns.usda.gov.
USDA staff will be participating in these upcoming meetings in 2016 and 2017. We look forward to the opportunity to meet you and hope to see you there!
December 6-8: School Food Focus National Gathering in Braselton, Georgia. USDA speakers, along with representatives
from a State agency and a school district, will present a session
entitled “Healthier, More Accessible USDA Foods: Progress, Potential and the
Power of Partnerships” on Wednesday morning, December 7. Come hear about recent
improvements to USDA Foods and how you can get involved in the entry points for
future innovation! The gathering will also feature a USDA Foods tasting of the
newly reformulated dried fruit mix, and Gwinnett County Public
Schools culinary students will be conducting a cooking
demonstration using the USDA Foods unseasoned chicken strip!
January 22-24: School
Nutrition Association (SNA) School Nutrition Industry Conference in Orlando, Florida. USDA will be presenting important updates on the Business
Management Improvement process for USDA Foods. The conference will also feature
a USDA Foods taste test opportunity on the afternoon of Saturday, January
21. Participants will learn about the behind-the-scenes
process for USDA Foods product development and taste recipes developed by Chef
Paula Kendrick from Florida, who will be incorporating
USDA Foods into fun, innovative dishes such as cinnamon nachos with
pear topping, pasta with broccoli and mushrooms, and spiced and
roasted chickpeas!
April 2-4: SNA Legislative Action Conference in Washington, DC
April 23-26: American Commodity Distribution Association (ACDA) Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado
July 9-12: SNA Annual National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
 Here's how to sign up for these updates via GovDelivery:
1. Go to the Food Distribution website.
2. Click on the red envelope on the row of social media icons on the top right of the page.
3. Enter your email address and click "Submit."
4. Check the boxes to select your topics of interest. For these e-letters, scroll down to the Food Distribution category and click the plus sign to the left of the check box to expand the list and view all the sub-categories. Check these sub-categories to receive the corresponding e-letters:
*USDA Foods --> receive all "USDA Foods from Farm to Plate" general + program-specific e-letters
*Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) --> receive "Household Highlights" e-letter
*The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) --> receive "Household Highlights" e-letter
*Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) --> receive "FDPIR Connection" e-letter
*Schools/Child Nutrition Commodity Programs --> receive "Spotlight on Schools" e-letter
5. Update your subscription preferences any time by following the above steps or clicking on the Subscriber Preferences Page link at the bottom of any of the e-letter email messages you receive from GovDelivery. Questions? Contact us at USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov
|
|
