Washington—US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack last Friday announced that the Biden administration is providing up to $1.5 billion to states and school districts to help school meal program operators deal with the supply chain disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
With funding made available through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), USDA will provide $1 billion for schools to purchase food for their meal programs and another $300 million for states to purchase foods to be distributed to schools. An additional $200 million will be used for cooperative agreements to purchase local foods for schools with a focus on buying from historically underserved producers.
USDA’s
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is providing $1 billion to states for
cash payments, known as Supply Chain Assistance funds, that school
districts can use to purchase foods for their school meal programs.
These funds deliver direct relief from ongoing supply chain issues and
improve the quality and consistency of school meals for children in
communities experiencing disruptions, making it easier for schools to
operate successful meal programs, USDA said.
In
total, the Supply Chain Assistance funds are expected to provide a
boost in resources for up to 100,000 schools across all 50 states,
Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands, including
public, tribal, charter schools, and nonprofit private schools as well
as residential child care institutions.
Supply
Chain Assistance funding can be used by school districts to purchase
unprocessed and minimally processed domestic foods such as milk, cheese,
fresh fruit, frozen vegetables and ground meat. Each state will
allocate the funds to schools based on student enrollment, with a
minimum amount per district to ensure that small schools aren’t left
behind.
To strengthen
local food supply chains, states have the option of using up to 10
percent of the Supply Chain Assistance funds to make bulk purchases of
local food and then distributing these foods to schools for use in their
meal programs. States also have the option of targeting the funds to
areas of highest need by limiting distribution to school districts where
a quarter or more of students are from low-income households.
Through
the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) new Local Food for
Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, USDA will award up to $200
million to states for food assistance purchases of domestic local foods
for distribution to schools.
This
program will strengthen the food system for schools by helping to build
a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain and expanding local
and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically
underserved producers and processors.
USDA
will also purchase about $300 million in 100 percent domestically grown
and produced food products, known as USDA Foods, for states to
distribute to schools to offset the impact of disruptions to their
normal supply chains.
Conducting market research and working with its qualified small to large vendors, USDA said it has identified a large
list of available products. States will be able to order these
additional foods within the coming weeks, with deliveries to occur as
soon as possible.
This
latest assistance is on top of a range of flexibilities, resources, and
hands-on support USDA is providing schools to ensure supply chain
disruptions like contract cancellations and increased food costs do not
negatively impact the school meal programs.
USDA
is taking actions to strengthen the school meal programs more broadly.
Earlier last week, FNS selected eight states to participate in the
Direct Certification with Medicaid Demonstration Project, bringing the
total number of participating states to 27.
Direct
Certification with Medicaid uses data matching to create an easier
pathway for low-income children whose families have already gone through
Medicaid’s eligibility determination process to receive free and
reduced price school meals. This increases access to nutritious school
meals for those in need while also reducing administrative burden for
schools and families and increasing program integrity, USDA explained.
“USDA’s school meal programs have a wide-reaching impact on the health and well-being of our nation’s children,” Vilsack said.
The
food and funds USDA is distributing “will help ensure schools have the
resources they need to continue to serve our nation’s schoolchildren
quality food they can depend on, all while building a stronger, fairer,
and more competitive food system,” he added.
The
non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA) applauded USDA’s
distribution of $1.5 billion in supply chain assistance funds for
schools. A SNA national survey of school nutrition directors found
virtually every program is struggling with shortages of menu items as
well as rising costs.
“School
meal programs are paying much higher prices in the scramble to place
additional orders and find new vendors when their deliveries are
shorted, cancelled or delayed,” said Lori Adkins, SNA’s president-elect.
“SNA is extremely grateful for USDA’s ongoing support and regulatory
waivers for school nutrition professionals as they confront supply chain
challenges. These new funds will help school meal programs manage
higher costs, while allowing students to continue enjoying nutritious,
American-grown foods in school meals.”