Presentation given by Loren LaCorte and Jaclyn Kupcha of the USDA Farm to School Team - used during the workshop titled "Procuring Food for the School Meals Programs 101"

1. Jaclyn Kupcha, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
Loren LaCorte, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
May 19, 2010

2.  Overview of the School Meals Programs
 How purchases are made in the programs
 Mechanisms for schools to use when purchasing
local, farm fresh products
 Impact of the 2008 Farm Bill on the purchase of
local farm products
 How to connect schools with farmers

4. FNS Headquarters
FNS Regional Offices
State Agencies
School Food Authorities
Schools

5. Throughout the existence
of the School Nutrition
Programs, USDA has
focused on helping State
agencies (SAs) and School
Food Authorities (SFAs)
find effective ways of
providing more nutritious
meals to America’s school
children.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd

6.  Public or nonprofit private schools and
public or nonprofit private residential child
care institutions
 SFAs have written agreements with their
State Agency
 SFAs must operate using a nonprofit school
food service account
 SFAs typically conduct the purchasing for
school meals programs

7. NSLP SBP
Avg Daily
Participation 31.3 mill 11.1 mill
Avg
Participating 101,577 87,814
Schools

9.  Most important principle of a sound
procurement is that it is competitive
 Free and open competition means that
all suppliers are on a level playing field
and have the same opportunity to
compete
 Procurement procedures may never unduly
restrict or eliminate competition

10.  Cost of products and services!

11.  Quality of products and services

12.  Program Regulations for Procurement:
 NSLP: 7 CFR 210.21
 SBP: 7 CFR 220.16
 Uniform Administrative Requirements for
Procurement:
 State/local governments: 7 CFR 3016.36
 Non-profits: 7 CFR 3019.44

13.  Ensure Federal funds, when used to
purchase products or services, result in
the best and most responsive product
at the lowest possible price
 Provides the framework by which SFAs
purchase goods or services with Federal
funds in the School Meals Programs

14.  Congress wants to achieve two goals:
 Program benefits are widely available to
eligible schools and children
 Benefits are used effectively and
efficiently, without waste or abuse

16.  An SFA must evaluate:
 Food Service Operations
 Food Service Needs

17.  SFAs must evaluate their schools’ current
food service operations to determine their
needs
 Self-Op/Central Kitchen/FSMC
 Storage capacity
 Processing abilities
 Staff resources
 Food safety practices
 Prior year menus
 Current food inventory

18.  SFAs must then evaluate their school’s
current food service needs
 Necessary volume
 Students’ preferences
 Menu requirements
 Required transportation
and delivery needs

20.  Informal procurement
 Small Purchase Threshold
 Formal procurement
 Competitive Sealed Bidding
 Competitive Negotiation

21.  Federal regulations set forth that a
procurement contract under $100,000 in
value may be awarded using informal
methods
 States or localities may set a lower small
purchase threshold, thereby imposing
more formal procedures

22.  Informal procurements must maximize full
and open competition
 SFAs should put specs in writing before
contacting any potential offerors
 Recommend at least three sources
be contacted who are eligible, able,
and willing to provide product or
service

23.  Used when the value of purchase exceeds
applicable Federal, State, or local threshold
for small purchases
 More rigorous and prescriptive:
 Competitive Sealed Bidding
 Competitive Negotiation

24.  Detailed specs must be developed
 Technical and cost factors
 Bids/Solicitations must be publicly solicited
 Measure and document why one company’s
response to a particular criterion is better
than another

25.  SFAs may not intentionally split
purchases to fall below the small
purchase threshold and avoid formal
procurement methods

27.  Request local, farm products through
quality indicators
 Degree of ripeness or maturity
 Age
 Condition upon receipt of product
 Preservation method
 Temperature
 Other quality standards

28.  Size
 Quantity
 Cleanliness
 Packaging
 Established delivery day

29.  Direct from Farmer
 Farmer Cooperative
 Farmers’ Market
 Wholesaler
 SFA Buying Cooperative

30.  Potential benefits of
purchasing from local farmers:
 Shortening the supply chain
 Cutting out the middle man
 Reducing fuel costs
 Forming relationships for growing
specifications

31.  Farmer cooperatives may develop a group
distribution strategy
 Purchasing from a farmer co-op may help
food service directors reduce time spent on
administrative tasks

32.  Informal Procurement Process
 Farmers are contacted and one is
determined to have lowest price
 Farmer brings the schools’ order to the
farmers’ market in addition to their
product
 Food service staff have opportunity to
inspect product quality and see other
available products for future menu
planning

33.  Support sales and marketing of local
farm products
 Provide standard pack sizes and
specifications
 Transportation
 Price
 Cutting out the
distributor

34.  Neighboring school districts develop a
group purchasing strategy
 Buying co-ops often increase purchasing
power and volume requests
 Co-ops must still follow procurement
regulations when purchasing for the group

35.  U.S. Agriculture Extension System
 Find agricultural producers in the community
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html
 State Dept of Agriculture or Education
 Find local farms and farmers
 Local Universities
 National Farm to School Network
 Find local farms and farmers
http://www.farmtoschool.org/index.php

37.  Familiarize yourself with
potential customer
 Contact local extension office
 Call your State’s Department of Education or
Department of Agriculture
 Contact schools within your deliverable area
 Contact the National Farm to School Network

38.  Consider pooling resources with other
farmers to increase delivery and efficiency
 Be cognizant of different packing
specifications that schools are used to
 Be aware of size requirements for schools
 Be aware of “language” barrier
 Crates /Bushels/Baskets/Pecks

40.  The 2008 Farm Bill amended the National School
Lunch Act to allow institutions receiving funds
through the Child Nutrition Programs to apply a
geographic preference when procuring
unprocessed locally grown or locally raised
agricultural products

41.  Only those agricultural products that retain
their inherent character
 Chopping, cutting, slicing, dicing, shucking,
peeling
 Cooling, refrigerating, freezing
 Washing
 Packaging, bagging

42.  Preparation that may be necessary to
present a product to a school in a useable
form
 Pasteurized milk
 Butchered livestock and poultry

43.  Discretion to define the local area for any
geographic preference is left to the
institution responsible for procurement
 “Local” must not be defined in a way that
unnecessarily limits competition

44.  Proposed rule: “Geographic Preference
Option for Procurement of
Unprocessed Agricultural Products in
Child Nutrition Programs”
 Published in Federal Register on April 19, 2010
 Comments may be submitted to FNS
by June 18, 2010
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/Federal-Register/2010/04-19-10_CN.pdf

46. Develop solicitation
and incorporate geo
preference points into
scoring criteria
Determine most
responsive and Publicly announce
responsible bidder at the IFB/RFP
lowest price
Producers of locally-
Evaluate bidders
grown unprocessed
using established
products receive extra
criteria
points in scoring

47. Develop your specs in
writing
Determine most Identify sources
responsive and eligible, able, and
responsible bidder at willing to provide
lowest price products
Evaluate bidders’
Contact at least three
response to your
sources
specs

49.  Tool to help food service professionals think
through important decisions involved in
food purchasing
 What quantity of raw product will provide the
amount of ready-to-cook food?
 How many servings will you get
from a specific quantity of food?
 Factors affecting yields

50.  Provides tips for planning, purchasing,
preparing, and promoting fruits and vegetables
 Tricks of the Trade
 Food safety
 Operating a salad bar
 Meal Appeal
 Ideas for presenting fruits and veggies
 Quality Food for Quality Meals
 Technical information on how to purchase high
quality fruits and vegetables

51.  Quality Food for Quality Meals:
Buying Fruits and Vegetables
 Develop quality standards
 Product descriptions
 Proper storage
 Fresh-cut
 Product sheets for
fruits and vegetables

52.  Balance: Provide a mix of flavors, textures, colors
 Variety: Offer cooked vs. raw; familiar and new
 Choices: Regional and cultural preferences
 Contrast: Texture, flavor, methods of preparation
 Color: Add natural color using fruits and vegetables
 Eye Appeal: Use produce as garnishes
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources

54.  Offer taste-testing of new farm products
 Introduce new foods in the classroom (FFVP)
 Sample portions on the classroom line
 Have a harvest festival and showcase one
local product each month

55.  At the beginning of the school year, involve
teachers in the planning process for increasing
fruit and vegetable consumption

56.  To encourage healthy eating and help students
learn about agriculture and farms
 FSA Kids
Fun activities on farming and agriculture
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/kidsapp
 MyPyramid for Kids
Lesson plans and interactive games
with nutrition messages
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/kids-pyramid.html
 Agriculture in the Classroom
Ag facts, State farming facts, Farm & Fun Food
http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/index.htm

57.  Utilize a school garden and incorporate into
lessons
 English
 Mathematics
 Science
 Art

58.  New website: www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/F2S
 Resources
 USDA Grants
 Policy
 Team Updates
 Site visits
 Webinars

59. FarmtoSchool@fns.usda.gov