Stronger with USDA Foods – 5 Ways USDA Foods Offers the Most Bang for Your Buck

USDA Foods in Schools support domestic nutrition programs and American agricultural producers through purchases of domestic agricultural products for use in schools and institutions. Nutritious USDA-purchased food is provided to the National School Lunch Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program. Using USDA Foods in child nutrition programs provides many benefits, and here are five ways USDA Foods offers the most bang for your buck:

1. By using USDA Foods, you leverage USDA's purchasing power. USDA purchases domestic product for the entire nation – that’s over 1 billion pounds of food each year. That typically allows us to purchase the same product that you would purchase commercially, at a reduced price.
2. USDA Foods products are 100% domestic - meaning they are grown, processed, and packaged completely in the United States. By using USDA Foods products, you not only guarantee that you will meet Buy American requirements, but you also get products at competitive prices.
3. USDA Foods direct delivered products are minimally seasoned and processed, so they can act as versatile ingredients that can be incorporated into a variety of menu applications to meet your needs as you continue to work through modified menus and adapted service models.
4. USDA Foods direct delivered products are formulated to have lower levels of sodium, sugar, and fat compared to their commercial counterparts. This allows school district to easily meet meal pattern requirements and serve nutritious meals to students.
5. USDA Foods can be the base to build back better school meals that students enjoy! Use brown rice or whole grain spaghetti to create flavorful rice or noodle bowls. Top high-protein yogurt with frozen strawberries and blueberries to make a parfait or sprinkle pepper jack cheese in a whole wheat tortilla to make a spicy quesadilla.

USDA Foods are nutritious, reasonably priced, 100% domestic products that give States and school districts countless possibilities to create school meals that offer the most bang for their buck. Think outside the “brown-box” with USDA Foods – the options are endless!

USDA Foods in Schools Webinar Recap

On July 1, FNS participated in the Institute for Child Nutrition’s webinar: Menu Strategies for Special Diets and Allergens. During the webinar, FNS provided details about the upcoming GS1 GDSN initiative that will allow States and school districts to access vendor-specific nutrition, allergen, and ingredient information for USDA Foods in Schools. The webinar also featured the Director of National Programs at Food Allergy Research Education (FARE) and Angela Gomez, a nutritionist with the Laveen School District in Arizona, who discussed best practices for developing special diets. Register here to watch a full recording of the webinar today!

On August 5, FNS hosted a webinar: Everything You Need to Know About GS1 GDSN! Accessing Nutrition, Allergen, and Ingredient Information for USDA Foods in Schools. During the webinar, FNS provided information on how States and school district will soon be able to access vendor-specific nutrition, allergen, and ingredient information for USDA Foods in Schools. FNS also provided details on where this information will be located and the timeline for implementation. Listen to the webinar today to learn more about this initiative!

Using USDA Foods in the Seamless Summer Option

In order to continue to serve meals safely while managing the impacts of COVID–19, many school food authorities (SFAs) have utilized the Child Nutrition waivers allowing States to continue to operate the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) through school year 2021-2022. These SSO meals count towards USDA Foods entitlement and SFAs operating SSO may use USDA Foods, including USDA DoD Fresh fruits and vegetables, for meals served under SSO. Using USDA Foods and DoD Fresh products in SSO helps SFAs provide nutritious meals with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, and appropriate calorie levels. Contact your State Agency if you need more information about using SSO this year.

Sodium in USDA Foods Products

USDA Foods can be a great resource for school districts to help lower the sodium content of school meals. USDA has been working for over 10 years to reduce sodium levels in direct delivered USDA Foods such as canned vegetables and beans, cheese, frozen meat and poultry products, deli turkey and ham products, fish, and whole-grain rich items. USDA Foods direct delivered products are minimally seasoned and processed to allow school districts to customize their USDA Foods to meet the diverse menu needs and flavor profiles of their students. They provide schools with many no salt added, and low or reduced sodium options to help build appealing menus in-line with meal pattern requirements.  

For USDA Foods direct delivered products, we set nutrition standards in the specifications and continue to work with industry to identify opportunities for further sodium reduction.  We have evaluated and reduced sodium where possible across many of our meat and meat alternate options, including chicken products, pre-cooked beef products, deli turkey and ham products, and cheese. There are also many no salt added meat and meat alternates available, including USDA Foods pork leg roast, raw ground beef, 100% beef patties, liquid whole eggs, and raw cut-up chicken. For vegetables and beans, we offer only low-sodium or no salt added products, which are clearly labeled and easily identified as “low sodium” or “no salt added” in the product descriptions on the USDA Foods Available List. 

As school districts plan future menus, we hope you make use of the direct delivered products available through USDA Foods to help lower the sodium content of your school meals. USDA remains committed to continuing to work with industry to reduce sodium in these options whenever possible.

Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit

On May 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education released information for school districts regarding the Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB). The EBB is a new, temporary Federal program to help eligible families pay for internet service during the pandemic. Households with a child who was approved to receive free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the School Breakfast Program (SBP) during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year, including children who attend schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, are eligible for the EBB Program. More information can be found at the Department of Education’s EBB website. 

An introductory letter and “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) document will assist schools in learning about the program and includes strategies for reaching out to the school community about the EBB. In addition, there is an “Outreach Toolkit” with sample templates for schools and school districts.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) appreciates the exceptional work of State agencies and local program operators to support families during this challenging time. State agencies are reminded to distribute this memorandum to program operators immediately. Program operators should direct any questions concerning this guidance to their State agency. State agencies with questions should contact the appropriate FNS Regional office.

School Nutrition Association (SNA) Annual National Conference (ANC) Recap

The SNA ANC was held virtually during the week of July 12, 2021. USDA staff provided USDA Foods updates and reminders on a variety of topics such as entitlement, ordering timelines, accessing nutrition information for USDA Foods, managing inventory of both USDA Foods direct delivered and USDA Foods pounds for processing, and USDA DoD Fresh. Thanks to Phil Truesdale, Food Distribution Program Administrator from South Carolina Department of Education, who co-presented with us and shared useful information about his team’s efforts during the last year and a half to help school districts work existing inventory into their adapted school menus. If you missed this conference, feel free to email us your questions at USDAFoods@usda.gov. 

1. Click here to review or modify your subscription preferences. 

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"

*USDA Foods in Schools --> receive "Spotlight on Schools"

To receive webinar announcements, scroll down to the Webinars category and select your program(s) of interest.

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

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