Food for Thought
November 2009
Almost everyone in our country is aware of the debate in Congress concerning health care reform. Obviously it is a very complex, unique, and important program to countless citizens of our country. Ask two people their opinion on what should be done and you will no doubt incite a passionate dialog on what is wrong with the program and what should be done to correct its shortcomings. Does this sound familiar to you? Sounds like the same dynamic that occurs when two school foodservice professionals discuss the USDA donated food program. No matter your opinion on the subject, you can probably agree that at the heart of both issues is the concept of freedom of choice on the part of the recipient. Citizens want to choose their own doctor, coverage for their specific family needs, etc. and school food service directors want more flexibility in their choices and want to use the advances in technology of the last few years, to more easily access their USDA commodity entitlement dollars and drive down their administrative costs. USDA's donated food program has a long and rich history dating back to 1935 and it too has seen its share of improvements. For instance, in 1946 the donated foods were merged with the newly enacted School Lunch Act which provided a funded recipient agency outlet for the donated foods. In the 1960's in order to improve the utilization of donated foods, the concept of further processing USDA donated foods became a reality. In 2002, USDA expanded and made permanent the concept of substitutability which led the way for other improvements like Indirect Sales Discount or Net Off Invoice as it is more commonly known. Throughout the history of the donated food program, concerned, dedicated individuals campaigned, negotiated, educated,		and persuaded others that improvements were necessary to meet the changing needs of the recipients. The point here is that each of these enhancements increased the flexibility of the program for recipients without compromising the integrity of the program itself. Along with improvements in procedure and regulation, technology has had a profound impact on the commodity program. Now USDA posts product specifications and awards donated food contracts through the internet. In parts of the country school districts request donated foods from their State through the USDA's "Electronic Commodity Order System" or "ECOS". Manufacturers have also followed this example by providing web enabled tools to offer you opportunities to order further processed commodities on line, show you current balances, select net off invoice distributors, complete sales verification, print reports showing purchase history, nutritional attributes of products, total commodities used, etc. All are program improvements not available just ten years ago. Within your own State you and your colleagues may perceive that some State policies are restricting your ability to take full advantage of the donated food program. Changes will only occur if recipients are willing to work together in conjunction with their State office. Consider getting involved with your State chapter of SNA and your State Food Distribution Administrators. Please also refer to the K12Blackboard on k12foodservice.com. It is a forum for schools where questions are asked and answered and perhaps where ideas can eventually lead to more improvements. If you need assistance with the blackboard, please call K12 Services, Inc. at 301-251-5515.
Utilize the K12 Blackboard To view the "K12 Blackboard", log in to your K12foodservice.com account. Once you are in the website, click the "K12 Balckboard" link located in the gray menu section on the left side of the page. this will open an new window and take you to the K12 Blackboard. If you need further assistance in using this forum, please call 301-251-5515.