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USDA Foods' Local Roots: DoD Fresh Connects the Farm to School

By Lindsay Williams and Blair Tucker-Gruchala | Food Distribution Division, USDA Food and Nutrition Service in Food and Nutrition | Oct 27, 2016

What do the military's logistical network, peaches and peppers, and school children have in common? The first delivers the second to the third through a unique partnership between the Department of Defense (DoD) and USDA.

October is National Farm to School Month (http://www.farmtoschool.org/our-work/farm-to-school-month)  and the perfect time to celebrate the DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/dod-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-program), which connects schools with fresh and often local produce using their USDA Foods (http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/food-distribution-programs) entitlement dollars. Schools order local foods from a variety of sources, and according to the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census (https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov/farm-school-works-stimulate-local-economies), 29 percent of districts participating in farm to school are receiving local foods through DoD Fresh.

For the past two decades, USDA has worked with DoD to leverage its extensive procurement system to bring fresh produce to schools. Since the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) procures thousands of items to support the nation's troops and military bases, using this network to supply school meal programs is mutually beneficial.

The roots of the connection between DoD and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) go back a half century, even before the beginning of DoD Fresh. During World War II, many young men were rejected from the United States military draft due to medical conditions caused by childhood malnutrition. This became a matter of national security that caused alarm at DoD. The rates of malnutrition among draftees, as well as the general health of the nation's children, led to the signing of the National School Lunch Act in 1946 by President Harry Truman. Similarly, DoD Fresh improves the nation's health and supports U.S. agriculture by providing nutritious options for school lunches and encouraging children to develop healthy eating patterns at a young age.

DoD Fresh has steadily grown from $3.2 million and eight participating states in school year 1995-1996 to $198 million and 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam in school year 2015-2016. States can opt to allocate a portion of their USDA Foods entitlement dollars toward DoD Fresh. Schools and school districts are then able to choose from a large selection of produce options available in their regional vendor's catalog. The catalogs identify which items are locally grown, offer a variety of pack sizes and include pre-cut options.

In late August, FNS accompanied DLA on a vendor site visit to Royal Food Service (http://www.royalfoodservice.com/) in Atlanta to learn first-hand about the vendor's best practices in providing exemplary service to its school customers. DLA audits vendors once per contract period, or more often as necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements. Royal serves 1,900 schools and exemplifies excellent customer service through regular communication. Newsletters  (http://www.royalfoodservice.com/newsletter/freshreport/pdf/freshreport.pdf) for schools feature updates on products and deliveries, local produce, market conditions and peak-of-season produce. "We try and educate and guide our customers to purchase the best product, at the best price, at the right time of the year," explains Katie Whitehurst, Royal's School Director. Royal also reaches out to local growers in states adjacent to Georgia, who may provide a significant volume of produce to meet schools' needs, while local growers approach Royal to develop partnerships.

DoD Fresh is all about partnerships, connecting local farmers with vendors and schools and leveraging the unique capabilities of DLA and USDA.  These efforts bring peaches and peppers – and many other fresh fruits and vegetables – to the plates of school children across the country.

Take one small step in celebration of National Farm to School Month and find your DoD Fresh vendor! And sign up (https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USFNS/subscriber/new) today for the USDA Foods E-Letter (http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/usda-foods-e-letters) and Community Food Systems E-Letter (http://www.fns.usda.gov/farmtoschool/e-letter-archive) for all the latest program news and resources.

 

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Newton County School System Approves Contracts Regarding School Nutrition for Next Year

COVINGTON — The Newton County School System is preparing to feed its students in 2014-15, approving various contracts at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

Royal Food Service of Atlanta was selected as the vendor of choice for providing produce and fresh eggs, with the contract becoming effective on June 25 and ending June 24, 2015. Romaine lettuce, apples, oranges, onions, nectarines and peaches are just a few of the produce items that RFS will provide, according to NCSS food services director Jan Loomans. She went on to add that NCSS has done business with RFS in the past, having a contract with them in the 2006-07 school year.

The contract with RFS will cost the school system an estimated $365,000 annually. The Agricultural Marketing Service Market News provides the Atlanta Terminal Report for Fruits & Vegetables, which establishes the index cost on a weekly basis. Dexter's Farm and Carden Foods Inc. submitted bids along with RFS, but after review, it was determined that RFS offered the lowest cost to the school system. Carden Foods was also disqualified from consideration due to past performance issues.

As far as bread and associated items, NCSS chose Earthgrains Baking Company of Decatur to provide bread as well as hamburger and hot dog buns for the upcoming school year. Through a recently enacted statewide contract, school systems and other agencies are able to aggregate their spending for better prices on bread and related bakery products from bread companies. NCSS will spend approximately $150,000 on this contract.
"Earthgrains has been our successful bidder for about 10 years," said Loomans. "They responded very quickly for the need for whole grains."
She added that the school system has not served white bread products in three years, and currently serves whole grain buns and bread. Recent studies have shown that white bread is not as healthy and nutritious as whole grain bread, due to the fact that a good portion of nutrients in white bread are bleached out.

Along with approving some new food contracts, NCSS approved the renewal of a few existing school nutrition contracts.
Originally awarded on June 20, 2011, a contract with Coca-Cola will provide assorted vegetable and fruit juice blends, zero calorie sports drinks, plain and flavored waters in addition to various types of fruit juices. This will cost NCSS $60,000.
The school system will also pay $705,000 to Mayfield Dairy Farms, LLC for the purchase of milk, renewing a contract that went into effect last year.
"Our students drink a lot of milk. It's a good thing," said Loomans.

Pricing is based on Class 1 raw milk prices, which are listed on monthly federal milk order announcements for the southeastern zone.
In addition to food, other contracts regarding school nutrition were renewed. For the third year in a row, PortionPac Chemical Corporation will supply NCSS with the chemicals used in the dishwashers, as well as a training program on OSHA compliant work practices, safe food handling following HACCP guidelines and regular compliance site-monitoring for employees — at an estimated cost of $40,823.

Southeastern Paper Group will provide paper and cleaning supplies to school nutrition staff at an estimated cost of $470,000. Originally awarded last year, the contract covers 65 different items including bowls, cups, food trays, pan liners, flatware, scouring pads, disposable gloves and assorted cleaning agents.

 

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Locally Grown Produce Part of Local School Lunches

Morgan County Citizen | April 4, 2013 issue

Morgan County public school students eating school lunches are chowing down on locally grown produce. Through a bid process, the school system is working with Atlanta-based Royal Food Service to obtain locally grown food for school cafeterias, according to Morgan County Director of School Nutrition Phyllis Martin. Royal vets and procures food depending on what the system has requested.

Royal sends Martin an e-mail once a month listing produce that's available. Martin uses a purchase sheet to submit the system's order weekly.

Five to 10 percent of the produce Morgan County students consume in school cafeterias is locally grown, Martin said, and that "locally grown" designation, in this case, means the produce comes from Georgia or a state touching Georgia. That produce has included, from Royal, watermelon, apples, yellow and green squash, cucumbers and some lettuce. The school system has also independently gone out and purchased strawberries from a Mansfield farm and, over the summer, peaches from CJ Orchards.

Martin maintains that the school nutrition program is self-supporting – 70 percent of the budget comes from federal funding, the rest from state and local funding – and will continue to be, and that using Royal doesn't make for additional costs.

"With Royal procuring for us, it doesn't cost more," she said.

Martin has applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the governing body of school nutrition programs nationwide, for a fresh fruit and vegetables grant. About two or three years ago, she got the grant for the elementary school. It's preferential that schools receiving the grant have more than half of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, so Martin's hoping to acquire the grant for the primary or elementary school. She should hear back by mid-April.

This is the second year that the school system has worked with Royal to get locally grown produce. So it wasn't a big jump for Martin to join the 5 Million Meals campaign, a drive statewide by Georgia Organics to have 5 million meals including locally grown food to be served in public school cafeterias. There are 28 systems to date taking part in this initiative.

 

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School District Honored for Serving More Local Food

By Michelle Floyd | Rockdale Citizen | March 14, 2013

CONYERS — Rockdale County Public Schools was one of 25 school districts in the state honored for increasing the amount of local food served to students.

State School Superintendent John Barge, Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black and Georgia Organics Board President Rashid Nuri recently honored 25 Georgia school districts for taking the 5 Million Meals Challenge and pledging to serve more local food in their cafeterias through Farm to School programs.

"Children learn better when their bodies and minds are fueled by nutritional meals. This program helps create a better school environment so that students can reach new heights academically," Barge said in a press release. "It also helps us expose children to science through agriculture. We must teach our children about an industry that is so critical to Georgia's economy in order to inspire the next generation of farmers and agricultural scientists."

In 2011, 3 million meals featuring locally produced food were served in more than 650 Georgia schools as part of a program to teach children where their food comes from and why that matters, and inspire them to eat more fruits and vegetables, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

In October 2012, Georgia Organics and its partners launched the 5 Million Meals Challenge, a statewide effort to get 5 million meals made with locally grown food served in K-12 cafeterias across Georgia.

"With great programs such as the 5 Million Meals Challenge and Feed My School for a week, students will discover the importance of agriculture through learning about the process that brings local produce and goods from an area farm to the cafeteria table, while at the same time receiving a healthy, delicious meal," Black said in a press release. "These programs not only allow children more healthy alternatives and promote local producers, but also bring communities together for a great cause."

School districts were presented The Golden Radish Award for their efforts.

"Our School Food Services department is comprised of a great team of employees in every school across the district," said Richard Autry, superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools. "While maintaining a self-sustaining financial model, the people in our SFS department do an outstanding job of keeping our students well-nourished so they are ready to learn by providing over 3.4 million healthy meals each year. They go beyond serving the daily nutrition requirements by participating in programs such as Farm to School and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Grant in order to expose children to a variety of fresh and healthy food to begin a lifestyle of making healthy food choices. We are proud of our food services team and this state recognition for their commitment to a healthier life for our young people."

Peggy Lawrence, director of School Food Services for RCPS, said schools focus on fresh produce items and eggs, and she works with produce vendor Royal Foodservice to purchase as many items as possible from the region, including parts of North Carolina and Florida.

She said one local or regional item is featured each month on its menus. Additionally, schools post a biography of the farm on the serving lines on the days that the item is being served.

"It is a way for students to make the connection between farm to table, for them to understand the valuable contribution that farmers make to our economy and our society, and it gives students an appreciation and, hopefully, a taste for fruits and vegetables that are so important to our overall health," Lawrence said. "Oftentimes there is a disconnect between food and where it comes from with our students."

She said Rockdale schools have participated in the Farm to School program for several years, even though it is just now being strongly encouraged at the federal and state levels.

"Busy family lives do not always allow for the opportunity for children to garden at home. This is a small way to help make that connection for our students," Lawrence said. "There is so much more we can and hope to do with this program as we move forward."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified Farm to School as a key strategy in addressing childhood obesity.