PK-12 Education Nutrition Programs Commodity Food Distribution | Commodity Food Distribution |
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The Commodity Food Distribution is an integral part of the Bureau of Nutrition Programs and School Transportation web page. Several important commodity updates and information sheets are now available on the web. The ordering of commodities via the Internet is now up and running. Iowa will be using two warehouses in the state for the storage of commodities this year. They are Des Moines Cold Storage and Mason City Cold Storage. Keck, Inc. from Des Moines will be in charge of transporting commodities to your school sites. Official commodity HOLDS and RECALLS will also be a part of the commodity web site that will be available to you. Look for the link "Commodity Food Alerts" to be kept up-to-date. ProgramsCommodity Processing One of the functions of the Bureau of Nutrition Programs and School Transportation is to distribute commodity food products to Iowa's school system. One of the options Iowa has is to distribute a bulk food item to a processor who will then make it into a popular end product. For example, Iowa sends many truckloads of frozen bulk chicken to the Tyson Company and GoldKist. These two companies then will make chicken nuggets, chicken strips/tenders, chicken patties, and popcorn chicken. The finished product will then be sent to Iowa's warehouses where it can then be distributed to Iowa schools. All of the products that Iowa selects to process are approved by the Iowa Commodity Advisory Council. Other bulk products that Iowa currently processes; peanut butter, oil, Nonfat-Dry Milk, mozzarella cheese, and various fruits, along with bulk beef and pork. Once these products are approved by the council, a contract is signed between the processing company and the State of Iowa. These contracts are one-year renewable contracts up to three years. Department of Defense (DOD) Fresh Fruit/Vegetable ProgramIowa is currently utilizing it's state entitlement dollars on securing fresh fruits and vegetables for some of the larger school districts in Iowa. These larger schools were selected to enable them to use fully their entitlement dollars on commodities offered each year. This program allows them to designate a portion of their annual entitlement for the purchase of fresh fruit and vegetables. This system also allows these schools to use their regular commercial distributors to receive the fresh fruits and vegetables. Approximately thirty (30) schools are currently in the DOD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Advisory CouncilContacts Meeting Minutes  February 2007 Meeting (2007-04-30)
ValuesCommodity values are determined annually by USDA. These are the average prices per pound for each product the USDA may purchase in a given year. They change for each school year. These are the values of the commodity foods that a school needs to keep in their inventory to determine what they have used in the food program each year. Schools may need both years of information to make comparisons on food values. 2007-2008 0708 Commodity Values 0708 Commodity Processed Values and Case Prices 2007- 08 Commodity Foods Ordered (2007-08-13)2006-2007
Publications and ReportsForms School's on-site review for their own program. This is done annually by each school and kept in the school files.  Storage Facility Review (2006-06-08)
Iowa Commodity Processors Fact
Booklet
Commodity Food Available for 2006-07 These are the commodity food products that USDA has determined may be available for the next school year. Availability will be determined by market conditions and market prices. http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/foods/sy07-schfoods.pdf
Commodities FAQ
Commodity Links |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 February 2008 ) |
