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The USDA Food and Nutrition Service's Food Distribution Division launched new "USDA Foods from Farm to Plate" e-letters in February 2015! We will be sharing resources, news, and best practices for all of our programs, including this special "Spotlight on Schools" update focusing on USDA Foods in the National School Lunch Program and other child nutrition programs. Other editions will focus on our household programs serving food banks, seniors, and Indian reservations. Visit the FNS website to sign up to receive these e-letters via GovDelivery or modify your subscription preferences (see instructions below). We welcome your input on topics for future letters, and you may contact us through our USDA Foods mailbox at USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov.
 The School Year 2015-2016 Foods Available List has been announced and posted to the FNS website! Among the new items is our expanded pasta selection. In addition to our whole grain macaroni, rotini, and spaghetti, USDA now offers a whole grain-rich blend of each of these shapes as well as whole grain and whole grain-rich penne. The blended pastas are designed to meet the meal patterns and increase student acceptance.
How to Order Less Than a Truckload
While most USDA products are
bought from vendors in full truckload purchase units, there are a few products
available in less than full truckloads and ways to order all products in less
than full truckloads. Small States and direct ship districts may particularly
benefit from these tips!
Sales orders for bulk products
to a national processor’s plant are especially easy to order in less than
truckload quantities since they all end up in the same location.
Because of the way they are
produced and graded, bulk potatoes and apples can be ordered in less than full
truckload quantities and do not require correlation at all.
FNS Food Distribution Division’s
Child Nutrition Operations Branch can also facilitate ½ truck orders of bulk
products to a processor.
States and school districts may
therefore submit sales orders for any bulk product in ½ truck increments
without correlation. The orders will either be combined into full trucks by
Operations branch or Operations branch will work with the processor to fill the
full truck order. An Operations Branch analyst may also supply less than truck
load amounts to a State by transferring bulk pounds in inventory (along with an
entitlement dollar credit). To fill a truck for varying quantities of
bulk, States may post a request to split on the WBSCM Split Shipment bulletin
board.
For direct ship products, there
are also several ways to receive less than a full truckload quantity.
States can post a request to the WBSCM Split Shipment bulletin board to find
other nearby States that would like to split or a truckload can be made from up
to two stops and a final delivery within your State or with an adjoining State
or district that has agreed to be a “split-partner.”
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 Recordings of the webinars in our two recent series for schools are now available on the USDA Food and Nutrition Service YouTube channel! We appreciate everyone who took the time to join us and learn more about these timely topics.
Fall series featuring chefs and recipe resources:
Winter/spring series to prepare for SY-16 USDA Foods ordering:
Our webinars are also conveniently gathered in the new Food Distribution playlist on the FNS YouTube homepage!
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 USDA Foods Hatches New Chicken Product for Schools
School lunches have evolved since many of our childhood days to keep pace with new dietary guidelines and school meal patterns, but one food has been an enduring component: chicken. The popular protein graces the center of the plate in a variety of forms and flavors, and the new USDA Foods unseasoned chicken strip provides school nutrition professionals with a versatile and healthy option to add to their recipes. USDA develops new products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) based on feedback from States and school districts. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how chicken flies the coop from farms to a pilot program to cafeterias across the country. Read more
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The USDA/State Agency Workshop, hosted by the National Food Service Management Institute, welcomed representatives of child nutrition and food distribution programs ranging from Alaska to the Virgin Islands. The December event, with the theme of "Partnering for Progress," featured panels and breakout discussions of trends, policies, and opportunities for collaboration. A working lunch provided the opportunity for State Distributing Agencies to update their USDA Foods Action Plans originally developed as part of a series of trainings throughout the country in Fiscal Year 2014. The Food Distribution Division is following up with our FNS Regional Offices to work with States on implementing program improvements and tracking progress.
 The School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers an innovative breakfast option incorporating USDA Foods frozen fruit: a parfait bar! The parfaits include portions of yogurt and fruit, and students may select a cereal or breakfast bar as their topping. North East High School, the largest in the district with more than 3,000 students, has developed a student-led wellness corner, where students assemble the parfaits to order for their peers. This school year, the district increased the variety of its USDA fruit orders for the parfaits, adding cherries and apricots to its repertoire of blueberries, peaches, and strawberries. View the School District of Philadelphia's Operation Blueberry video for inspiration on incorporating this fruit into your menu! Here are the USDA Foods frozen fruit options on the current Foods Available list:
- apple slices (material code 100258)
- apricot cups (100261)
- blueberries (wild-100243 and cultivated-100244)
- cherries (100235 and IQF-100237)
- peaches (cups-100241 and slices-100239)
- strawberries (cups-100256, sliced-100254, and whole/IQF-100253)
We currently have extra trucks of the IQF whole frozen strawberries available for States to order for June through September delivery. Interested school districts may contact their State agencies.
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Professional Standards
Professional Standards for school nutrition professionals is a
key provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA). The rule,
published March 2, 2015, requires a minimum amount of annual training hours
for all new and current State school nutrition directors, State distributing
agency directors, school nutrition directors, managers, and staff.
Required training topic areas will vary according to position and job
requirements. There are also minimum hiring standards for new State directors
of school nutrition programs and State directors of distributing agencies that
oversee USDA Foods.
In developing the final professional standards rule, USDA
considered input from a variety of sources, including representatives from State agencies, school districts, and school nutrition professional
associations. As a result, the final rule provides flexibility by
creating minimum hiring standards for new school food authority directors based
on district size.
The rule is effective beginning July 1, 2015, with several built
in flexibilities intended to facilitate the first year of implementation and
address the challenges faced by smaller school districts.
USDA Foods Information Sheets
A newly released Q&A from Child Nutrition Programs clarifies that School Food Authorities may use USDA Foods Information Sheets as documentation of compliance during an Administrative Review. When State agencies are assessing compliance with Meal Components and Quantities or Dietary Specifications or conducting a weighted nutrient analysis, an SFA can provide USDA Foods Information Sheets as a type of allowable information for determining food crediting or dietary specifications.
USDA Foods Information Sheets are available on the FNS website and reflect a summary of nutrition information from potential USDA Foods vendors for a particular product or from the USDA National Nutrient Database. The Information Sheets can
help SFAs plan healthy school meals by providing general product information about
USDA Foods products prior to receipt of a specific product from a manufacturer.
Did you know March 18 was National Agriculture Day? In recognition of how USDA Foods and schools support domestic agriculture, here's a list of the top States of origin of USDA Foods (based on pounds purchased in Fiscal Year 2014), along with the total number of pounds and the product of which the State provided the most pounds:
- California (367 million pounds): mozzarella cheese
- Michigan (218 million pounds): applesauce
- Wisconsin (180 million pounds): potatoes
- Pennsylvania (147 million pounds): chicken
- Minnesota (141 million pounds): turkey
Food Distribution staff will be participating in these upcoming national meetings in 2015. We look forward to these opportunities to meet you and hope to see you there!
May 3-5: American Commodity Distribution Association (ACDA) Annual Conference in Salt Lake City. USDA staff will be among the presenters, with session topics including procurement, inventory management, value pass through methods, understanding CN Labels in the administrative review process, and other program, regulatory, and legislative updates.
July 12-15: School Nutrition Association (SNA) Annual National Conference in Salt Lake City
 Here's how to sign up for these updates via GovDelivery:
1. Go to the FNS website: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/food-distribution-programs
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
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