News & Notes

Guide Rate Update: Milk Consolidation & Juice Pilot As of February 2017, FDPIR participants can choose from any combination of skim evaporated milk, instant nonfat dry milk, or 1% UHT milk up to eight units per person. This combines the two milk categories that currently exist. We also recently began a pilot that allows participants to exchange some or all of the fruit juice currently offered in FDPIR for canned, dried, or fresh fruit. Eight Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) are participating in this pilot: Sherwood Valley Food Program, Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association (SCTCA), Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Chickasaw Nation, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. USDA will review distribution patterns under the pilot to determine next steps.

FDPNE Grant: Request for Applications Released

USDA released the Fiscal Year 2017 Request for Applications (RFA) for the Food Distribution Program Nutrition Education (FDPNE) Grant on March 1. The application due date is May 1. Since 2008, FDPNE has made approximately $1 million available per year for FDPIR programs to apply competitively for nutrition education grants. Examples of activities conducted by grantees include nutrition education classes, cooking demonstrations, taste testing of items available through FDPIR, gardening projects, and more. Visit the FDPIR Nutrition Education Grant Awards website for additional information, and click here to view or download the FDPNE RFA from Grants.gov!

Featured Recipe: Blue Cornmeal Tamales

In November, USDA staff had the opportunity to visit Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and attend one of the acclaimed "Cooking with Carmen" food demos! Carmen Robertson taught FDPIR clients how to use items from the food package, including beef roast and the new blue cornmeal, to make an easy and delicious tamale recipe.

Easy Blue Cornmeal Tamales 1 beef roast*                  1 large onion, diced* 2 TBSP fresh garlic       2 TSP crushed red pepper flakes 2 TBSP oil*                    5 TBSP chili powder Cornmeal (blue or yellow)*            *indicates a USDA Food 1. Cook roast in crock pot the night before until tender. 2. Save juice from roast for cornmeal mixture. 3. Sauté onions and garlic in oil until tender. 4. Pull apart roast and add to pan of onion mixture. 5. Mix cornmeal and juice from the roast until mush consistency. 6. Spread cornmeal mix on a piece of tin foil and spoon in meat mix. 7. Fold over and crimp edges of foil. 8. Drop packet in a large pan of boiling water and let boil for 10 minutes. 9. Let cool and enjoy topped with enchilada sauce or chili.

Resource Roundup

Sharing Gallery: Salmon Webisodes and More! Check out the latest videos on the Recipes & Cookbooks page of the FDPIR Sharing Gallery. We've recently added three "Store Outside Your Door" webisodes, showcasing traditional salmon fishing and preparation, from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, along with a Pressure Cooker Beef Stew recipe video from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. Interested in contributing recipes or other resources to the Sharing Gallery? Email us at USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.

NEW USDA Foods Webinar List Are you interested in receiving announcements for upcoming USDA Foods webinars? We have created a new email list via GovDelivery - the same service we use to send out these e-letters - where you can sign up to receive notifications about webinar dates, topics, and registration details. Here’s how to sign up: 1. Click here! 2. Enter your email address and click Submit. 3. Scroll down to the Webinars category (click the + next to Webinars to expand the list, if needed). 4. Check the boxes next to the topic(s) you’d like to sign up for based on your program(s) of interest: Webinars – Schools/Child Nutrition USDA Foods Programs Webinars – CSFP Webinars – TEFAP Webinars – FDPIR 5. Click Submit! You can return to the subscriber preferences page to modify your preferences any time. We are currently planning our 2017 webinars and look forward to having you join us! Sign up for the new email list today to be sure you receive updates when we announce our new webinars.

Keweenaw Bay Uses Grant for Nutrition Education Materials

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan created the nutrition education display pictured below using nutrition administrative funds and some Food Distribution Program Nutrition Education (FDPNE) funding. The colorful display is located at the front of the FDPIR warehouse so clients can notice it right away upon entering, and the clients are really enjoying the materials!

Blurbs from Blogs

Harvest Time: Celebrating Native American Heritage and Traditional Foods in FDPIR Autumn is a time to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for, as we enjoy the harvest of nature’s bounty during gatherings with family and friends. In Indian Country, culture and tradition are sustained through shared meals with family and the community. Traditional foods are a powerful way for each new generation to connect with and honor its history and its ancestors, and participants in USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) have access to more traditional foods than ever this year. November, Native American Heritage Month, is an especially fitting time to celebrate the addition to FDPIR of bison, blue cornmeal, wild rice, and wild salmon – foods that not only nourish a body but sustain a culture. Read more

Farm to School Efforts Positively Impact Tribal Communities An ancient belief held by tribal communities is that the soil is cared for by Mother Earth, the nurturer and the protector of the land. This idea speaks to the importance of farm to school efforts in tribal communities. And many tribal communities are reconnecting children with their rich history and cultures by establishing farm to school programs. Tribes are integrating traditional foods into the Child Nutrition Programs, sourcing foods locally, incorporating multicultural nutrition education into classroom curriculum and providing hands-on lessons in school gardens. USDA’s Office of Community Food Systems supports tribal communities through the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, assisting tribes across the nation to connect with local producers and teaching children about where their food comes from. Read more

Market News Report Aims to Bring Transparency and Pricing Information to Tribes According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, there were 71,947 American Indian or Alaska Native farm operators in the United States in 2012, accounting for over $3.2 billion in market value of agricultural products sold.  Tribal Nations were identified as one group that is an underserved segment of agriculture, and USDA Market News is answering the call to provide them with the commodity data they need.     USDA Market News – part of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) – assists the agricultural supply chain in adapting their production and marketing strategies to meet changing consumer demands, marketing practices, and technologies.  USDA Market News reports give farmers, producers, and other agricultural businesses the information they need to evaluate market conditions, identify trends, make purchasing decisions, monitor price patterns, evaluate transportation equipment needs, and accurately assess movement. Read more

Spotlight on Sam Spang

Received the Bold Leadership Award for Making His Warehouse Green

Sam Spang, FDPIR Director of Sac and Fox Nation’s Food Distribution Program in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has been recognized and honored with the 2016 Bold Leadership Award. He has been working in partnership with an electric service provider, Central Electric Cooperative and the company's Smart Energy Solutions business unit, regarding 100 panel 28.5 kW Solar Array (Net-metering/Grid-tied System) installation, a project that is being developed for the SFN Food & Nutrition Center (Main Stroud Warehouse) for installation in FY16.

Spang says, “Moving forward with these latest developments, it is my goal to create increased awareness for the significant need to support new projects that convert innovative technology into operational growth and economic efficiency, strengthening the financial performance and capabilities of our tribal communities.”

Congratulation on your award, and continued success with going green!

Technology Synopsis

Security Update for eAuthentication

Several USDA web applications, including WBSCM and FFAVORS, use eAuthentication (eAuth) to manage login credentials. Users can recover a forgotten password using a series of security questions established by the user. To address concerns about digital security and privacy for its employees and customers, USDA has developed new security questions that no longer use personally identifiable information (PII).

The new security questions went into effect last month. If users haven’t already done so, they will be prompted to select from the new non-PII security questions and update their responses after the next successful eAuth logon.

All users are encouraged to pay attention to the responses provided for the security questions. If an external user forgets both the password AND the security question responses, they will need to set up a new eAuth account and reestablish access to FFAVORS and/or WBSCM with the new login ID.  To update the eAuth link for FFAVORS, contact the FFAVORS Help Desk. For WBSCM, contact the user administrator for your organization.

If you have questions about these changes, please contact the eAuth Help Desk.

Out and About

Crossing Devil’s Lake: A Visit to Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe

The lake is long and expansive in nature. It sits quietly even as its waves are in constant motion and hit along the banks of Highway 57 in Fort Totten, North Dakota. The road that crosses the lake, now elevated, still catches splashes of water, but securely leads you to Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe Indian Reservation. Eagles fly above. Buffalo roam below. And in between, among vast land and an enrolled membership of over 7,000 tribal members, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) opens its new doors every weekday to over 750 participants on a monthly average.  

In 2016, Spirit Lake’s food distribution program, under the direction of Mary Greene-Trottier, found a new home on the reservation in the facility that previously housed the Dakotah Tribal Industries, a tribal company that manufactured tents for the military under government contracts. Retrofitted and reconfigured to fit the needs of the program, the location off of Dakotah Drive now showcases a 4,800 square foot grocery store, the first among food distribution programs in the Mountain Plains region. Long aisles with tribal influences and glassed refrigerators display the more than 100 USDA Foods products, labeled in English and Dakota. Equally impressive as the store is the adjoining warehouse space, high ceilings and neatly packed. Alongside the space is yet another surprise that encompasses the nearly 19,200 square foot facility, a staircase leading up to a room with a healthy vision.  

Mary Greene-Trottier, the FDPIR program director since 1985, is continuing to make improvements to the facility. The second floor will soon transform into a nutrition learning center. “Our goal is to have a center where families, parents, youth, and elders can learn about nutrition education, learn new skills, and enhance their cooking skills with a variety of educational components such as gardening, food preservation, and recipe demonstrations,” says Ms. Greene-Trottier. “We also plan to include a cultural component with the classes. Individual cooking stations will also be designed, giving the students a hands-on learning experience.” Spirit Lake’s nutrition learning center is on schedule to host its first classes in 2017. 

At the time of our visit in the last days of November 2016, nutrition classes were in full force and offered throughout the month with an onsite nutritionist as well as through a partnership with North Dakota’s Cooperative Extension Program. Weekly classes target all age groups. During our visit, small children learned how to make fruit kabobs, high-schoolers received a lesson on nutrition education, adults participated in a cooking demonstration, and counseling was provided to a participant during a home-delivery visit – all in a day’s work!

New Video Highlights USDA DoD Fresh in FDPIR

For the past two decades, the USDA has worked with the Department of Defense (DoD) to leverage its extensive procurement system to bring domestically grown fresh produce to ITOs. To help the nearly 95,000 FDPIR participants get access to fresh produce, the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support’s Subsistence plays an important role. Since the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) procures thousands of items to support the nation’s troops and military bases, using this network to supply FDPIR is mutually beneficial. Since 1995, DLA Troop Support has partnered with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to provide a consistent source of produce that may not be readily available in very rural areas. This program also offers a great opportunity to incorporate nutrition education into the participating household’s FDPIR experience. Many FDPIR program operators incorporate fresh produce into healthy messaging, provide taste tests, and conduct food demonstrations on ways to select, store, and cook nutritious meals using fresh produce provided by the program.

Through the USDA DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, the USDA has been able to offer ITOs a larger variety of high quality produce, including pre-cuts, increased produce pack size, freshness, and consistent weekly deliveries above what would normally be available through USDA produce purchases. Additionally, the DoD is procuring locally grown produce to the greatest extent possible, consistent with season and quality. For more about the FDPIR USDA DoD Fresh Program, check out the new Logistics on Location video titled “In Support of Native Americans: Western Washington State.” The video features two Food Distribution Programs, the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association and Small Tribes of Western Washington.

Feedback Reminder - USDA DoD Fresh and Other USDA Foods

For concerns regarding produce received through the USDA DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, ITOs should contact their designated DLA service representative for direct customer service as well as the appropriate FNS Regional Office. If issues continue to be unresolved, please contact the USDA Complaints Team as noted below.

As a reminder, concerns or feedback related to other USDA Foods products should be submitted through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System (WBSCM).

The USDA Foods Feedback and 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. 

On the Horizon

USDA staff will be participating in these upcoming meetings in 2017. We look forward to the opportunity to meet you and hope to see you there!

March 27-30: FDPIR Training hosted by SouthWest Indian Food for Tribes (SWIFT) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

May 1-4: Western Region FDPIR Regional Conference (May 1-3) and 3rd Annual Nutrition Education Symposium (May 3-4) in Phoenix, Arizona

June 12-16: National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations (NAFDPIR) Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri

How to Sign Up for USDA Foods E-Letters

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

Learn more at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/food-distribution-programs or contact us at USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.

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