LaNae Potter – A Life of Service to Children

On May 22, 2018, LaNae Potter, a program analyst in the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Food Distribution Division (FDD), Child Nutrition Operations Branch passed away. LaNae made many contributions in FDD during the three short years she worked with us. In addition to processing orders for peanut, grain, and oil products, she was always eager to take on projects that would have long-term impact on our program. For example, LaNae shared data with States on their distribution practices and fees to spark conversation and improvement, and she developed standard operating procedures for State agencies to use when submitting USDA Foods orders. She was eager to help her colleagues and share a friendly word.  

Prior to joining FDD, LaNae spent more than 10 years working in various capacities to improve school nutrition. During the 2000s, she served as the Food Services Director for Garvey and Hacienda La Puente Unified School Districts in California, and received an SNA rising star award in 2007 for her efforts. She also served as the Southern California School Nutrition Association President in 2009. Beginning in 2011, she became the assistant director of procurement for Colorado State University’s dining services and then joined the State of Colorado’s Food Distribution Program in 2013.     

LaNae’s career path shows her true commitment to making sure children had affordable and nutritious meals, and she did so with a “can do” attitude every step of the way. Her courage to keep serving our school customers as she battled illness for years was truly inspirational. LaNae’s contributions to FDD are lasting, and she is missed dearly by all of us.  

While program operators do not earn entitlement for the School Breakfast Program, you can use USDA Foods at breakfast. According to the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) School Nutrition Operations Report: The State of School Nutrition 2018, more than half of respondents (54.1%) that offer breakfast say they provide alternative venues for breakfast at school in addition to the cafeteria. Among those, 43.9% say they bring breakfast directly to the classroom at some schools, while 61.8% say they provide grab-and-go kiosks. The Foods Available List has several options perfect for breakfasts on the run like individual pack sizes of peanut butter, dried cranberries, and applesauce, yogurt, and frozen fruit cups.

Image courtesy of Food Service Director Magazine.

2) Conduct tests with students.

Who knows your customers better than the students themselves! According to the same SNA survey, 74.5% of districts have implemented student taste tests or sampling. Find ways to get input on USDA Foods from your students. Consider preparing one item in a few different ways. For example, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) makes sure they can get the most out of their entitlement by using USDA Foods products in multiple recipes. MPS uses the USDA Foods chicken strips in four different salads, burrito bowls, tamari chicken and rice bowl, pasta entrées, and the student-approved Brasa Curried Chicken Rice Bowl, developed in partnership with a popular local restaurant.

The resource contains five modules, and each module is centered around a kid-friendly recipe that can be prepared at an afterschool or out-of-school program site. Step-by-step instructions for each module are included in an Activity Guide. Each module has an accompanying Family Handout that can be sent home so that children can continue to practice their cooking skills at home. Family Handouts include the recipe, instructions for how kids and families can cook together, and worksheets and activities to reinforce healthy habits. A Skills Video is also available for each recipe.

All materials can be viewed and downloaded from the Team Nutrition Cooks website. Printed copies of this resource will be available later this year.

FNS published a Final Rule on May 1, Revisions and Clarifications in Requirements for the Processing of Donated Foods, which revises and clarifies requirements for the processing of USDA Foods, effective July 2, 2018. This summer, USDA staff conducted a webinar to review highlights and answer questions to help stakeholders better understand the changes to the USDA Foods processing regulations. Click here to view the webinar recording.

Stay tuned for additional resources for implementing the rule in the coming months!

Orange, yellow, and green, oh my! We’ve heard from States and school districts across the nation about offering more vegetable varieties. We are proud to announce that frozen Mixed Vegetables (item 110871) have been added to the Foods Available List! Over 70 truckloads of orders have already come in to serve this multi-crediting vegetable in school meals this year. This product is a 4-way blend that includes carrots, corn, peas, and green beans and credits as 25 percent red/orange, 25 percent other, and 50 percent starchy vegetable. Mixed vegetables are versatile, easy to prepare, and can be easily adapted to any recipe. Try serving mixed vegetables in a stir-fry, a soup, a chilled salad, or as a side-dish to any entrée. If you are interested in more information about the product, please check out our USDA Foods New Product Preview Sheets. We look forward to hearing your feedback about this product or other items you would like to see at USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.  

On July 25, a USDA staff member had the opportunity to visit Minneapolis Public Schools. During the visit, the group was able to see the Street Eats food truck in action at one of its neighborhood stops, providing free lunch to kids and teens as part of the USDA Summer Food Service Program. The group also had the opportunity to tour the Minneapolis Public Schools Central Kitchen that prepares and packages meal components for schools around Minneapolis, including made-from-scratch sauces, salad dressings, and even mashed potatoes made from Minnesota-grown potatoes. It’s always a great opportunity for USDA staff to see firsthand all the innovative things our local partners are doing. We thank Minneapolis Public Schools for the opportunity to have an inside peek at how they use their USDA Foods to support healthy meals! 

Of the approximately 30 qualifying sponsors, 11 agreed to join the pilot program. The main advantage of offering the pilot to existing NSLP SFSP sponsors is that they are familiar with the USDA DoD Fresh program and the vendor, making the transition very smooth. Funding determinations for SFSP sponsors were based on meals served during the previous year, with higher meal counts receiving proportionately more funding. This is similar to how USDA Foods entitlement is allocated. The State Food Distribution Program monitored the weekly spending in the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Order/Receipt System (FFAVORS) and only needed to remind participants once or twice to place orders. We allowed schools to start ordering on July 1, and by early August, the USDA DoD Fresh dollars were nearly 100% spent.

Due to the minimum order delivery amount in Connecticut, we realized we needed to frequently monitor spending and move funds around in order to fully utilize all USDA DoD Fresh dollars. As soon as one district fell under the minimum order delivery amount, the State transferred the remaining funds into another district’s account. Communication was a key factor from the beginning in order to provide information, start-up dates, funding availability, etc. As a new State participating in the pilot to use USDA DoD Fresh in the SFSP, we highly recommend and encourage other States that are interested in participating to offer the opportunity to SFSP sites who have access to FFAVORS. This streamlines the process for State agencies, sponsors, and USDA. 

Overall, it was a wonderful, easy process for everyone involved, and we received positive feedback from our school partners and vendors alike. We would like to thank USDA for offering our State this opportunity and being so easy to work with, and only hope that we will be able to offer this program permanently moving forward to all Connecticut SFSP sponsors.

SFSP Sponsor Pilot Feedback:

Heidi E. Karner, RDN, Nutrition Liaison from Windsor Public Schools, said, “Having the opportunity to be a part of the USDA DoD Fresh program has given our summer meals program the ability to serve locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to serve, including freshly sliced zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, watermelon, and much more that were grown right here in our own backyard!" 

Dana Plant, Food Service Director of Windsor Public Schools, said, “We are so grateful to have had the ability to use the USDA DoD Fresh program this summer for our summer meals.”

Photo Above: A girl enjoys watermelon at a Windsor Public Schools SFSP site.

Photo Below: Hartford SFSP staff serve students fresh and healthy meals with a smile.

1. Click here. Or you can go to the Food Distribution website and click on the red envelope on the row of social media icons on the top right of the page.

2. Enter your email address and click "Submit."

3. Check the boxes to select your topic(s) 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 topics. Select any of these topics to receive the general e-letter plus the corresponding program-specific e-letter(s) of your choice:

*USDA Foods --> receive all "USDA Foods from Farm to Plate" e-letters

*Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) --> receive "Household Highlights"

*The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) --> receive "Household Highlights"

*Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) --> receive "FDPIR Connection"

*Schools/Child Nutrition Commodity Programs --> receive "Spotlight on Schools"

4. Visit the subscriber preferences page any time you would like to review, add, or delete subscriptions. Questions? Contact USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.

5. Share the e-letter and new subscriber link with interested colleagues and friends!