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'Buy American' hits a snag on the lunch tray
Story Date: 3/7/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/6/18
The USDA's renewed focus on its "Buy American" mandate for the National School Lunch Program is causing headaches for school nutrition leaders who are trying to serve up more produce to students on super-tight budgets, reports yours truly.
The memo everyone's talking about: In June, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service issued a memo reiterating its "Buy American" policy, outlining several details about how school food operators are expected to procure domestic products as well as cases in which they have some leeway on the requirement. USDA officials, who spoke on Monday during the School Nutrition Association's Legislative Action Conference in Washington, faced numerous questions and complaints about the issue.
The snag: Several school nutrition leaders pointed to examples when domestic weather had caused shortages of products -- leading to price spikes or compromised product quality. School meals programs are required to incorporate exponentially more servings of fruits and vegetables than several years ago.
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