Cathie McCullough Director Food Distribution Division FNS/USDA School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference March 2, 2009

Food Distribution Priorities Web Based Supply Chain Management Transition DoD Fruits & Vegetable Program USDA Foods Image Improvements

Web Based Supply Chain Management What Is It? Web-based replacement for 30-yr old system Financials – payments, accounting State Ordering Purchasing, deliveries Domestic and International Programs Affects USDA, States, some schools and food banks, industry, PVOs, USAID, and MARAD ECOS functions will be integrated into WBSCM

What will it mean for States Schools Industry

Timeline DEC DEC GO LIVE! APR 2009 APR 2009 SYSTEM TESTING BEGINS SEPT 2009 SEPT 2009 USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING SDA ECOS USERS TRAINING RA ECOS USERS TRAINING DEVELOPMENT

USDA Foods DoD Fresh Program Funding 2008 Farm Bill $56 M SY 2009 Security Certificates 16,000 Users $150 per user Waiver through June 2010 WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY!!

USDA Foods DoD Fresh Program FFAVORS vs. STORES Ordering Eliminating FFAVORS and replacing with STORES Waiver to keep FFAVORS until June 2010 WBSCM Ordering Prime Vendor Contracts 32 States have new contracts 15 States still have old contracts

USDA Foods Recalls The Peanut Recall…. Big impact in the commercial world… …Relatively small impact in the world of USDA Foods

USDA Foods Recalls Lessons Learned from Beef Recall: Expectation of local level notification… Fix: Commodity Alert System notices of holds/recalls Self register for free on USDA website:

USDA Foods Farm Bill Benefits  More F&V Money  DOD Fresh Cap Removed  Whole Grain Pilot

USDA Food Bonus SY 2009 Purchases Cut-up chicken Bulk Chicken (processing) Orange juice Frozen Cherries Canned Pear Halves Catfish

USDA Foods Whole Grain Pilot Requires purchase and study ($4 million total) of additional whole grain products for school meals Whole grain pancakes and tortillas Requires acceptability study by September 2011

USDA Foods Training Opportunities ACDA ANC Training Sessions SNA ANC USDA “Track” State Processing Presentations IOM & FRAC Presentations NFSMI Satellite Seminar: USDA Foods, America’s Finest

USDA Foods Image Improvements Vision To increase participation in USDA nutrition assistance programs by improving public perception of USDA Foods.

School lunch and commodities cause obesity USDA “surplus” commodities are the culprit Commodities are low quality Needs replacing with… USDA Foods The Perception

Healthy Choices and American Grown Account for 15-20% of school food purchases Request driven purchases School districts are not required to accept items they do not want USDA Foods The Realities

USDA Foods Nutrition Initiatives Low sodium canned vegetables Whole Grain pasta Parboiled brown rice Low Sat Fat Soy Bean Oil Unsweetened Applesauce Reduced Fat Bakery Mix Low Fat Meats and Poultry Reduced Fat Cheeses

Established Stakeholder Team Had several stakeholder roundtables/events Developed Mission Statement, Logo, Materials, Website Established FY 2009 Objectives & Tasks Hired PR Firm to Focus Test Logo & Materials Develop a multi-year Communication Plan USDA Foods Initiative Status

USDA Foods Procurement & Ordering Initiatives Long term contracts (LTC) to ensure supply require earlier orders and contract awards: Low Sodium Canned Vegetables LTC orders for delivery July June 2010 due Feb 27 Turkey LTC orders for July - Oct 2009 deliveries: due March 5 Cheese LTC orders for Jan - Dec 2010 deliveries: due June 30

Always looking & listening for new ideas ! USDA Foods Initiative Status