Featured Food
Fruits & Vegetables Through USDA Foods
Add colorful fruits and vegetables to your menus through USDA Foods! The USDA Foods Available List for SY 2025 offers fruits and vegetables in a variety of forms, including fresh, frozen, canned, and dried. Canned fruits are either unsweetened or packed in extra light syrup to limit added sugars. Many types of fruit are available including apples, apricots, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, oranges, peaches, pears, raisins, and strawberries.
Vegetable options are either low-sodium or no salt added to support meeting weekly sodium limits. You can find vegetables from all five vegetable subgroups including:
|
And the options don’t end there, because the USDA Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (USDA DoD Fresh) allows schools to use their USDA entitlement dollars to buy a wide variety of whole and pre-cut fresh fruits and vegetables. Through USDA DoD Fresh, U.S.-grown fresh produce is delivered weekly by regional produce distributors, offering schools the opportunity to purchase local produce.
Resource Round-up
Crunch into Spring With Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables!
Spring is here and it’s a great time to add a few crunchy fruit and veggie packed recipes to your students’ plates. Soon you may start to see the farmer’s markets in your local community filled with spring peas, leafy spinach, crisp lettuces, and crunchy radishes. In some areas of the country, the end of this month will mark the beginning of strawberry season as well. In addition to having important vitamins and minerals for growing bodies, raw vegetables can be used to add a crispy crunch to a cold or hot noodle dish and can be used on any burger or chicken sandwich.
May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To celebrate, think about featuring a few culturally inspired dishes for your students to enjoy that include seasonal vegetables. The Institute of Child Nutrition Recipe Box has a host of recipes designed to meet the needs of a variety of USDA Child Nutrition Programs. Try a crisp and crunchy salad like this Ginger Citrus Noodle Salad developed by the Georgia Department of Education or cook up this take on a simple Fried Rice to pair with teriyaki chicken made with the USDA Foods cooked and frozen grilled chicken strips (110462) tossed in teriyaki sauce.
Finding inspiration elsewhere? That’s great! You can use the Institute of Child Nutrition’s USDA Recipe Standardization Guide to support you through the process of transforming a recipe into one suitable for the Child Nutrition Programs.
|
Supporting Those With Food Allergies During Food Allergy Awareness Month
During this year’s Food Allergy Awareness Month, it is important to remember that over 10% of U.S. adults and 8% of children in the U.S. may have one or more food allergies. Food allergies can be chronic, life threatening, and costly to families. Fortunately, there are an abundance of resources for school nutrition professionals, parents, and school staff, to help manage, learn, and train on food allergies.
To start, USDA FNS provides numerous resources on the FNS Food Allergy Website. There you will find resources such as the Institute of Child Nutrition’s Food Allergy Training and Fact Sheets, USDA’s Food Safe Schools Action Guide, and comprehensive guidance documents from CDC and FDA. Through the Nutrition, Allergen, and Ingredient Information for USDA Foods in Schools initiative, FNS has leveraged partnerships with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to provide vendor-specific nutrition information to states and school districts to develop the USDA Foods Database, which provides up-to-date allergen declarations for all USDA Foods. Lastly, for additional food allergy facts, statistics, and research you can visit the Food Allergy Research and & Education (FARE) Website.
We encourage you to keep learning about food allergies and continue to support current and future efforts in your local communities, schools, childcares, and public venues to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all adults and children living with food allergies.
|
Conference Clips
American Commodity Distribution Association Annual (ACDA) Conference: Coming Together to Nourish the Nation
This year, the American Commodity Distribution Association annual conference was held in St. Louis, Missouri, from April 21-24, and was attended by over 950 representatives from USDA, states, schools, food banks, and industry. Over four days, USDA presented on a variety of topics including; USDA Foods program updates, procurement, processing, food safety, and the final Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans rule. This conference was a great opportunity for all attendees to come together to learn, share, and network with a common goal of providing healthy foods to program participants while supporting American agriculture.
|
Technology Synopsis
eAuthentication (eAuth) Phase 2 transition to Login.gov is LIVE as of March 25, 2024
The second phase of transitioning users from eAuth to Login.gov recently launched. Login.gov provides the added security benefits of multi-factor authentication to protect your personal information. The final phase of transitioning users with existing eAuth accounts to Login.gov is targeted for the end of September 2024. Once fully implemented, Login.gov will be the mandatory method to access all USDA eAuth protected applications, including WBSCM. WBSCM public customers, vendors, and business partners will not be able to log into WBSCM with an eAuth account after the end of September 2024.
As of March 26, 2024, each time an existing user logs in with an eAuth account, there will be an automatic reminder to switch to a Login.gov account.
Login.gov will continue to be optional during this second phase, but it is highly recommended that users transition to Login.gov at their earliest convenience for added security benefits.
More information on this transition is available on the eAuth Frequently Asked Questions website.
WBSCM Training Homepage Highlight
The WBSCM training homepage has resources for new WBSCM users, training materials grouped by WBSCM roles, and easy access to frequently visited training materials.
Resources for New WBSCM Users
To access them via the links below, first log into WBSCM.
- The WBSCM New User Registration Video Tutorial provides an overview of how to create a Login.gov ID and register a new WBSCM account to gain access to WBSCM.
- Once you have established WBSCM login credentials, begin by reviewing the new WBSCM Browser Settings and Helpful Tips job aid for Chrome-specific settings and other tips.
- Review the WBSCM Portal Navigation Video Tutorial for an overview of how to navigate and search within the WBSCM Portal. You may also review the WBSCM Portal Navigation Job Aid for information about WBSCM screen components, navigating transactions, advanced search options, and working with outputs such as reports and export files.
- The Working with Standard WBSCM Reports job aid provides detailed instructions on how to use standard reports in WBSCM.
- The WBSCM Terms and Acronyms Glossary provides a list of commonly used acronyms and terms with brief descriptions.
Training Materials Group by Roles
Access select training materials, by user role, from the WBSCM Help tab > Welcome page for the International Sales Orders, Electronic Invoicing, Domestic Requisition and Sales Order, and International Shipment E2E Visibility functions.
Frequently Visited Training Materials
Two important training materials are highlighted below. To access them via the links below, first log into WBSCM.
-
WBSCM Existing User Login.gov Registration - This job aid reviews the steps necessary to convert an existing WBSCM eAuth account and register a Login.gov account to access WBSCM systems.
-
WBSCM General Troubleshooting Tips - This job aid describes common issues encountered in WBSCM and includes (where possible) steps users can take to remediate them
To access the training homepage and the resources highlighted above, Click the “Help” tab on WBSCM.
|
