New Factsheets About Handwashing, Cleaning, and Disinfecting!
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has released two new factsheets for operators of USDA Foods household programs, including the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). These handouts provide general recommendations for handwashing, hand sanitizer use, cleaning, and disinfecting. The information highlights the latest guidance from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
FDPIR program operators can electronically distribute these factsheets to program staff or print and display them in the program warehouse as a reminder of best practices.
Check out these new resources today!
The Child Tax Credit: Major Tax Relief for Nearly All Working Families
The Child Tax Credit provides automatic monthly payments for nearly all working families.
- All working families will get the full credit if they make up to $150,000 for a couple or $112,500 for a family with a single parent (also called head of household).
- The Child Tax Credit has been expanded to $3,000 per child 6-17 years old and $3,600 per child under 6.
- Roughly 39 million households – covering 65 million children (nearly 90% of children in the United States) – will automatically receive the new child tax credit.
- Starting on July 15th and through the rest of the calendar year, payments will be monthly (via direct deposit for 80% of families and through the mail for the others) – at $250 per child between 6-17 or $300 per child under 6.
- Low-income families with children are eligible for this crucial tax relief – including those who have not made enough money to be required to file taxes. If a couple makes under $24,800, a head of household makes under $18,650, or a single filer makes under $12,400, and they have not filed their taxes, there is a simple, easy tool to sign up for the Child Tax Credit. Learn more at ChildTaxCredit.gov.
New Cooking Videos on the FDPIR Sharing Gallery
Looking for a creative way to highlight foods included in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) food package? Look no further than the new and improved FDPIR Sharing Gallery! ITOs and organizations working with Tribal communities have worked hard to develop cooking videos featuring tasty recipes that can be viewed on your computer, smart phone, or tablet. There are over 70 cooking videos housed on the FDPIR Sharing Gallery. Some videos are short 3-5 minute clips while others are more detailed and demonstrate preparing a complete indigenous meal. Check out Chef Francisco’s Cooking Matters Facebook Live event where he shows viewers how to shop for and prepare a full indigenous meal using traditional methods and equipment he grew up with on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. Looking for shorter cooking demos? Oklahoma Tribal Engagement Partners (OKTEP) offers a constant supply of short cooking videos, using mainly FDPIR ingredients and minimal cooking equipment. Check out the videos and other materials on the FDPIR Sharing Gallery regularly, as it is refreshed and enhanced on an on-going basis. Have you seen any tribal-related videos, handouts, recipes, cookbooks, or toolkits you think should be added to the gallery? If so, please email us at USDAFoods@usda.gov.
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Updates from the FDPIR Food Package Review Workgroup
Just as in years past, the FDPIR Food Package Review Workgroup has remained engaged and has continued to make enhancements to the food package. In November 2020, the FDPIR Food Package Review Workgroup held their annual strategic planning meeting where they developed several food package priorities for the 2021 fiscal year. FNS is excited to report that the workgroup has successfully accomplished all of the priorities established last fall!
A few highlights of these accomplishments are outlined:
- Implement the CARES Act Food Package
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Status: The CARES Act Food Package was implemented on January 1, 2021. To date, 42 ITOs have been approved to distribute a CARES Act Food Package that can include up to an additional 21 units of food across all food groups.
- Procure walleye for fair share distribution and work with the workgroup to identify additional tribal vendors that can supply walleye.
- Status: Walleye is currently available for fair share distribution in the national warehouses. Workgroup members can share contact information for tribal vendors at any time with FNS.
- Review new foods to add to the food package, which includes two (2) potential year-round USDA DoD Fresh vegetables.
- Status: FNS met with the workgroup in June 2021 to discuss adding four new USDA DoD Fresh vegetables to the guide rate. The workgroup voted in favor of adding iceberg lettuce, spinach, red peppers, and jalapeño peppers. These items will be available in the next AIS/IFMS release in September 2021.
The FDPIR Food Package Review Workgroup is also excited to welcome two new members! Perry Martinez from Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council was elected President for the Southwest Indian Food for Tribes (SWIFT) and was selected as the Southwest Regional Vice President for the workgroup. Dorothy Bell, Nutrition Educator from Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians was also selected to represent the Midwest region as a Tribal nutritionist in the workgroup. We welcome both Perry and Dorothy to the FDPIR Food Package Review Workgroup and look forward to another productive year!
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Recipe Frameworks – Taking the Guess Work Out of Meal Prep!
Have you ever looked at a recipe and realized you didn’t have all of the ingredients? Or, have you ever opened your refrigerator and wondered what to do with what seems like a bunch of unrelated food items? Cooking Matters – a non-profit organization that teaches families to shop for and prepare healthy meals -- is here to help with a set of Recipe Frameworks. It’s pretty simple: take a look at the recipe framework for salads and follow these easy steps using what you have on hand to create a delicious salad starter or a tasty weeknight meal.
- Greens: take a look at what you have on hand and add it to a bowl (4 cups will feed about 4 people)
- Veggies: 1-2 cups, the sky is the limit; beets or carrots, chopped broccoli or cauliflower, tomatoes and cucumbers, corn kernels
- Protein (optional): 2 cups; if you're looking to make a meal out of the salad, use up some canned beans (low sodium), hard-boiled eggs, canned tuna, or chicken
- Add-ins (optional): ½ cup; toasted nuts or seeds, shredded cheese, cooked brown or wild rice, or dried fruit
- Salad Dressing: ¼ cup; mix some oil and vinegar or lemon juice, honey mustard, or balsamic vinegar
And presto – dinner is on the table in a matter of minutes.
Check out all of the Cooking Matters Recipe Frameworks on the FDPIR Sharing Gallery for ideas on preparing pasta dinners, super salads, stir-fry, muffins, soups, casseroles, trail mix, and fruit smoothies.
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Self-Determination is Coming to FNS!
The 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to establish a demonstration project for one or more Tribal organization(s) that administer the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) to enter into self-determination contracts to purchase USDA Foods for their Tribe. Self-determination contracts are intended to give Tribes maximum involvement in the administration of programs and services provided to them by the Federal government and to allow them to target the programs and services to the needs of their local communities. Under this demonstration project, selected Tribal Organizations will supplant existing FDPIR foods for another food of similar or higher nutritional value for inclusion in the FDPIR food package. FNS is excited to announce that it has completed its review of proposals received. A formal announcement of Tribal Organization participation is expected this summer!
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FDPIR CARES Act Infrastructure Grants
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed on March 27, 2020, provided the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) with $50,000,000 in additional funding to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic with facility improvement and equipment upgrades.
To date, ninety-six (96) FDPIR programs have received grant funds for items including computers, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, sanitizing stations, vehicles, trailers, and forklifts. Additionally, many grantees received funds for facility improvements and upgrades including purchasing generators and HVAC systems, touchless lighting systems and doors, and expanding parking pavement and awnings to promote drive-thru distribution models.
FDPIR CARES Act funding is still available! Please work with your FNS Regional Office to discuss any additional funding requests or modifications to your existing grant. Costs associated with building renovations have increased greatly in the past year since the CARES Act grant requests were initially submitted, and now is the time to review your budget to confirm if more funding may be needed to complete your project. Below are highlights of some CARES Act grant projects.
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin – Midwest Region
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin received a FY 2020 FDPIR CARES Act Infrastructure and Equipment Grant for program upgrades necessary to respond to COVID-19. Menominee added a carport to their Food Distribution building to allow for curbside pickups. The Program also purchased two 5’ X 8’ covered trailers to use for transporting USDA Foods and received funding to convert their delivery van into a refrigerated van. In addition, Menominee was also able to utilize this grant to help purchase infrared thermometers, handsfree lighting and door access, PPE, and signage, including an LED sign located outside of the building to inform the community of pick-up and pantry days.
 Lower Brule Sioux Tribe – Mountain Plains Region
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe received FY 2020 FDPIR CARES Equipment and Infrastructure grant funding for several warehouse improvements and equipment upgrades in response to COVID-19. Items that have been completed include adding an entry way with security doors and screens to assist with social distancing; replacing the seals and handles on both walk-in coolers and the walk-in freezer to ensure food safety; and renovations of the warehouse kitchen, bathroom and office floors to make cleaning easier to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
 Kiowa Tribe – Southwest Region
The Kiowa Tribe received FY 2020 FDPIR CARES Act Infrastructure and Equipment grant funds for facility and equipment upgrades in response to COVID-19. Projects that have been completed at this time include purchasing a new refrigerated trailer for tailgate operations, building a new loading dock area and awning, and expanding the driveway and parking lot to accommodate households as they wait in their vehicles to maintain social distancing.
 Hoopa Valley Tribe – Western Region
The Hoopa Valley Tribe received a FY 2020 FDPIR CARES Act Infrastructure and Equipment Grant for equipment and facility upgrades necessary to respond to COVID-19, including making renovations to the Food Distribution warehouse. One renovation to the building included an upgraded awning which allowed clients to wait for their FDPIR foods and complete any paperwork outside to help maintain social distancing and limit the amount of people in the building. Other approved equipment requests included a back-up generator and delivery truck with reefer unit to be used on tailgates.
New Report Option and Warning Message in FFAVORS
The latest release for the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Order Receipt System (FFAVORS) was implemented on July 10, 2021. Recent changes include:
- When placing an order with a Required Delivery Date (RDD) that is not their assigned delivery day, customers will now receive a warning message.
- The Usage report now has a third option, Summary – by RDD, which summarizes orders by requested delivery date and includes the order date and delivery date on the report.
Are you working with the latest version of the manual? The manuals are updated with each release, as applicable. To get the latest copy, click on the Help link in the upper right part of the screen when logged in to FFAVORS.
IFMS Transition Continues
As of the latest launch in July, there are now 66 ITOs using the Integrated Food Management System (IFMS), with over 300 active users. Since its launch in October, ITOs have issued over 3.3 million food items to more than 12,400 households.
Each month, a new set of Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) begin the eight-week transition program, which prepares them for the change through system set up, training sessions and hands-on practice, and loading their historic data from the Automated Inventory System (AIS). Please direct any questions about the IFMS transition program or scheduling preferences to the IFMS Transition Team Manager at paula.joyce@caci.com.
IFMS Release 1.4.0 Highlights
IFMS is under continuous improvement to introduce new capabilities, incorporate feedback and requests from the user community, and fix bugs and other issues. The development cycle is designed to produce a quality solution that is thoroughly tested and defect-free.
One of the advantages with a cloud-based system like IFMS is that all updates are applied automatically, and no user actions are required to install or update files in order to use the latest version of IFMS. The most recent update was deployed with Release 1.4.0 on July 9, 2021.
Highlights from this release include:
Issuance: The header on the Issuance Receipt has been modified to display more material lines per page.
Inventory: The Material Selection categories and subcategories now match the ITO’s current Guide Rate. The Description column on the Inventory transaction screen is wider and can display more information. Other updates include the ability to display more rows of information on the screen and a more clear message for the “exceeds inventory” error.
Reports: Users can now refresh data for the FNS-152 report at any time with a new option on the Organization Details page. Users will no longer need to wait until the following day to view these changes to their FNS-152 reports. Once the refresh process has completed, they will receive an IFMS notification to let them know they can now generate the updated FNS-152 report.
Detail about these changes is provided in the Release Notes.
IFMS NewsWatch
IFMS NewsWatch, which launched in December 2020, is a specialized eletter for ITOs, FNS staff, and others who will be using IFMS or support FDPIR. Each month, subscribers will receive updates about IFMS features, transition status, and preparation tips. New IFMS users are automatically subscribed to IFMS NewsWatch. To sign up or manage subscriptions, self-service tools are available.
Receipting Multiple Shipments in WBSCM
In Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM), when a vendor ships an order in multiple parts with more than one ASN, the order appears as multiple rows in the receipting screen. To help users select the correct row to enter receipt information, the ASN Number column has been added to the default view (eINV_VIEW). Users may also refer to the BOL# column to confirm that the correct row is selected.
WBSCM Resources
WBSCM is under continuous improvement through monthly development activities, and help resources are regularly updated to reflect the latest system changes and recommended processes. Available resource types include work instructions, job aids, simulations, course materials, and release notes.
To access the document library from WBSCM, navigate to Help → Training; then drill down through the categories, user groups, and functional areas or topics. These resources can also be accessed via on-screen help while performing most WBSCM transactions by clicking the Options button and selecting Help.
 For questions about WBSCM, please contact the WBSCM Service Desk or call (877) 927-2648.
System Reminders
- 7/29/2021 – WBSCM Release 2021.R4.2.07
- 8/13/2021 – IFMS Release 1.5.0
- 8/26/2021 – WBSCM Release 2021.R4.2.08
- 9/01/2021 – AIS Release 09.2021 (instructions sent by email in advance)
- 9/30/2021 – WBSCM Release 2021.R4.2.06
- 10/03/2021 – FFAVORS 3.3 Release
Note: Planned dates for system activities are subject to change.
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