USDA Foods Update Tim Walsh Acting Branch Chief Community Nutrition Programs USDA FNS MARO

USDA Foods Topics: FNS Overview USDA Foods - Year in Review Meeting the New Requirements Provision 242 Update New Tools for Schools

But first – a short video USDA Foods Final QT 480p 16x9 - YouTube

USDA Food & Nutrition Service Vision To lead America in ending hunger and improving nutrition and health. Mission Statement The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) increases food security and reduces hunger in partnership with cooperating organizations by providing children and needy families access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education in a manner that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.

USDA Food & Nutrition Service Seven Regional Offices and HQ 15 Nutrition Assistance Programs Budget - $109.1 Billion (proposed)– FY13* Programs Serve 1 in 4 Americans -Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 47.5 million Individuals/month (October 2012) -National School Lunch Program 31.7 million students in ~101,000 schools daily *Source: www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42596.pdf

FNS Regional Offices Regional offices work with their state and community partners to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing those in need with access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education.

FNS Regional Offices

FNS Programs That Utilize USDA Foods National School Lunch Program School Breakfast Program Child and Adult Care Food Program Summer Food Service Program Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

FNS Programs That Utilize USDA Foods Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Commodity Supplemental Food Program Nutrition Services Incentive Program Processing Charitable Institutions Disaster Feeding and Situations of Distress

USDA Foods: NSLP Year in Review FY 12 - USDA purchased 1.1 billion lbs of foods valued at over $1.4 billion FY 12 – NJ NSLP – 31.2 million pounds of food valued at $32.1 million FY 11 USDA purchased 1.1 billion lbs valued at over $1.2 billion for Child Nutrition Programs. Over the past year we’ve been working thru the learning curve for all users: districts, States, USDA staff, vendors and carriers The ordering cycle is back to later and more traditional order due dates which we hope to shorten even more to allow Recipients maximum flexibility and just in time delivery of USDA foods. SY 13 ordering catalog completed January 2012 SY 13 Goals To explore new procurement vehicles for Long Term Contracting to have more flexible ordering timeframes to ensure supply predictability  

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: Makes up approximately 15 to 20 percent of the food served in each school lunch. Provides a variety of healthy food choices, including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and grains. Includes a selection of more than 180 nutritious food items— fresh, frozen, packaged, canned, dried, and bulk. Meets rigorous food safety standards set by Federal regulatory agencies and USDA’s two purchasing agencies – the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Farm Service Agency. Food Distribution knew this was coming and we’ve been aggressively improving our foods the past 5 years. We offer a good variety of canned, frozen, fresh and dried fruits. Canned products are packed in extra light syrup. USDA offers unsweetened frozen blueberries, whole strawberries, and apple slices to help schools serve fruits without added sugars. However, industry needed additional time to develop a specification for other popular frozen fruits to eliminate added sugars. Thus, we issued a memo in conjunction with CND to allow schools time to use existing inventories. Vegetables: Again, we offer canned, fresh and frozen options. In addition to the low and no sodium added canned and frozen vegetables offered, we have quite a selection of legumes, which are naturally fat free, high in fiber and nutrient dense. We are also researching vegetables we can add to help you meet the new dark green and orange vegetable categories. Schools have asked us to look into frozen broccoli florets as a USDA Food offering, and we are currently checking on the availability of frozen spinach and squash.

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: Fruits Canned-extra light syrup Frozen: developed new specification that decreases the amount of added sugars Vegetables: ≤ 140 mg per ½ cup serving and no salt added products Canned and dried beans Exploring dark green and orange vegetables Food Distribution knew this was coming and we’ve been aggressively improving our foods the past 5 years. We offer a good variety of canned, frozen, fresh and dried fruits. Canned products are packed in extra light syrup. USDA offers unsweetened frozen blueberries, whole strawberries, and apple slices to help schools serve fruits without added sugars. However, industry needed additional time to develop a specification for other popular frozen fruits to eliminate added sugars. Thus, we issued a memo in conjunction with CND to allow schools time to use existing inventories. Vegetables: Again, we offer canned, fresh and frozen options. In addition to the low and no sodium added canned and frozen vegetables offered, we have quite a selection of legumes, which are naturally fat free, high in fiber and nutrient dense. We are also researching vegetables we can add to help you meet the new dark green and orange vegetable categories. Schools have asked us to look into frozen broccoli florets as a USDA Food offering, and we are currently checking on the availability of frozen spinach and squash.

USDA Foods Available Extra Light/Unsweetened Fruits Apricots, Whole/Diced Fresh Fruits – Apples, Oranges and Pears Fruit Mix Blueberries, Unsweetened Peaches, Sliced/Diced Strawberries, Unsweetened Pears, Sliced/Diced/Halves Dried Fruits (Variety) Apple Slices – Unsweetened Canned/Frozen ¼ cup = ½ cup New Specs for Frozen Fruit Applesauce – Unsweetened Less added sugars Waiver for SY12/13 and SY13/14

USDA Foods Available Vegetables Red–Orange Tomato Products – Whole, Diced, Sauce, Paste Sweet Potatoes – Canned, Fresh, Frozen, Bulk Carrots – Frozen, Fresh Baby Carrots Dark Green Frozen Broccoli Florets are available in FY13 (5 lb bags). Spinach is also being considered.

USDA Foods Available Vegetables Legumes Variety of canned and dry Low sodium (140 mg/serving) Starchy Vegetables Reduced sodium, fat-free potato wedges, canned & frozen peas, corn, and fresh potatoes Other Green Beans

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: Fresh Cut Program Expansion Baby Carrots Sliced Apples Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Our Fresh Cut program expanded nationwide in SY 11-12, and continues to offer baby carrots and sliced apples in individual servings. We are looking at options to include other fresh fruits and vegetables through USDA’s distribution channels. In addition, schools can use their planned assistance level to request fresh fruits and vegetables through DoD. This program has grown from $50 million in SY 2008, to nearly $80 million this school year.

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: Whole grains: meet >50% requirement -Pastas -Brown Rice -Tortillas -Whole wheat flour -Whole Kernel Corn for processing Exploring other whole grains like white whole wheat flour products We offer a variety of foods that meet or exceed the 51% whole grain requirement. We’ve been working for several months on a white whole wheat flour, but based on some inconsistent results that SFAs shared regarding commercially available blends, we want to do more research before moving forward with white whole wheat product. Check out our foods available list to see the breath of products we offer.

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: Reducing Sodium: All canned vegetables/tomatoes Most meats and cheese products Reducing Total Fat/Saturated Fats Lean meats/poultry/fish Reduced fat cheeses Eliminate Trans fats: purchase only zero trans fat products USDA Foods will help you meet your sodium, saturated fat and transfat targets Sodium: We have worked with industry to reduce the sodium level in canned beans, vegetables, and tomato products to 140 milligrams or less per ½ cup serving. Our canned kernel corn, diced tomatoes and frozen vegetables have no salt added. We have reduced the sodium level in process and blended cheeses by 40-50%, and we continue to offer reduced-sodium turkey ham, chicken fajitas, turkey taco filling which are 20-30% lower in sodium. We are exploring a reduced sodium pork ham. Fat and Saturated Fat: For many years, we have offered lower fat meats including 97 percent lean ham, 95 percent lean turkey ham, a 95 percent lean beef patty, and a lower fat turkey taco filling. Our bulk pollock for further processing has been very popular and provides another low saturated fat option. By switching from a batter breaded chicken to oven roasted chicken, we reduced total fat and saturated fat by 25%. We offer reduced-fat cheddar, mozzarella and blended cheeses, low-fat bakery mix, and fat-free potato wedges to help schools make even more strides in reducing saturated fat. Shortening and butter were eliminated from our school offerings long ago. USDA has purchased peanut butter, potato products, and bakery mix with no trans fats for some time, but now we are adding language to product specifications to ensure this is true. Note: in SY 12 Vegetable oil contained some trans fat, and we are working with FSA to change the spec and purchase zero trans fat oil for SY 13.

USDA Foods Help Schools Meet New Requirements: FNS is researching new products to help schools meet the new meal pattern requirements. We are considering: • Bulk Pinto Beans for processing • 1 oz. Low-sodium Cheese Stick • Bulk Romaine Lettuce for processing We want your feedback and ideas about these products and any others you’d like us to consider. Email us at: USDAFoods@fns.usda.gov. USDA Foods will help you meet your sodium, saturated fat and transfat targets Sodium: We have worked with industry to reduce the sodium level in canned beans, vegetables, and tomato products to 140 milligrams or less per ½ cup serving. Our canned kernel corn, diced tomatoes and frozen vegetables have no salt added. We have reduced the sodium level in process and blended cheeses by 40-50%, and we continue to offer reduced-sodium turkey ham, chicken fajitas, turkey taco filling which are 20-30% lower in sodium. We are exploring a reduced sodium pork ham. Fat and Saturated Fat: For many years, we have offered lower fat meats including 97 percent lean ham, 95 percent lean turkey ham, a 95 percent lean beef patty, and a lower fat turkey taco filling. Our bulk pollock for further processing has been very popular and provides another low saturated fat option. By switching from a batter breaded chicken to oven roasted chicken, we reduced total fat and saturated fat by 25%. We offer reduced-fat cheddar, mozzarella and blended cheeses, low-fat bakery mix, and fat-free potato wedges to help schools make even more strides in reducing saturated fat. Shortening and butter were eliminated from our school offerings long ago. USDA has purchased peanut butter, potato products, and bakery mix with no trans fats for some time, but now we are adding language to product specifications to ensure this is true. Note: in SY 12 Vegetable oil contained some trans fat, and we are working with FSA to change the spec and purchase zero trans fat oil for SY 13.

HHFKA Section 242 Update Examine SFAs’ access to accurate nutrition information for commercial products and USDA Foods; FoodConnect.gov Explore ways for schools to create high quality specification for bids: www.interflex.net Provide recommendations for policy and funding to effect change to Congress In the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, we’ve been tasked to help find solutions for some challenges that schools have had for years. We are collaborating with several organizations to explore how we can give Schools access to accurate nutrition information for both USDA Foods and commercial products and help them with resources to create high quality bid specifications. Regarding the model specification piece to HHFKA, FNS has partnered with Interflex, an Internet technology and services firm, which has developed a software platform that helps schools with foodservice bidding and builds model specifications for the products they serve in school meals. Interflex has in turn collaborated with Alliance for a Healthier Generation to add features based on its nutrition standards. On February 28, 2012, the BidAdvantage system went live at www.interflex.net. This service is free to schools. This will not be the only venue that we pursue to make model specifications available. We are required to provide a report to Congress in June with our recommendations for new policy and funding to make these things happen.

FoodConnect.usda.gov The USDA Food Connect website provides a one-stop information and communication resource for schools, other procurement groups, and the companies that supply them. The web site allows food service professionals to search for, and identify, value-added food products produced from a variety of agricultural foods, the companies that offer the products, brokers that represent those companies, and distributors that have passed a warehouse sanitation review.

USDA Foods Tools for Schools www.fns.usda.gov/USDAFoods USDA Foods Toolkit Updated Additional Bid Tools coming soon! We are also continuing to build on the USDA Foods Toolkit on our website to create resources for you to build and promote your program. Keep checking back as we will be adding new resources in the coming months. Stay tuned for additional resources regarding model specifications, too. Team Nutrition Grant – letters of intent due March 15 Through these grants, States can provide training for NSLP or CACFP foodservice staff on implementing the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), applying for the HealthierUS School Challenge, maximizing the use of USDA Foods, and meeting the requirements for the new meal patterns for school meals mandated by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. States could apply for these funds to provide training to schools to help them understand the nutritional benefits of USDA Foods, including their contribution to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and how to maximize the use of USDA Foods in nutritious, low-cost school meals.

USDA Foods Questions/Information: Contact your state agency Visit www.fns.usda.gov We welcome your feedback and have an e-mail address for you to send any questions or comments.