USDA aims to help schools deal with supply chain challenges for meals

It is lunchtime, but some U.S. schools have reported trouble finding the right foods to put in student meals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sept. 29 announced further assistance to help school foodservice directors respond to supply chain disruptions. The newly announced assistance follows a mid-September waiver from USDA that helps schools struggling to procure food and supplies from being financially penalized if shortages prevent them from meeting certain federal regulatory requirements for school meals. 

The USDA said Sept. 29 it would give up to $1.5 billion for assistance to help schools respond to supply chain disruptions. The agency said the funds will support procurement of agricultural commodities and enable USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and Agricultural Marketing Service to enhance the “toolbox” for school nutrition professionals working hard to make sure students have reliable access to healthy meals.

“USDA has been extremely responsive to the supply chain challenges school nutrition professionals are facing as they scramble to secure foods and supplies to serve students and manage rising costs,” School Nutrition Association president Beth Wallace said in a statement.  

“SNA greatly appreciates USDA’s announcement of new funds for school meal purchases and the commitment to easing regulatory requirements during these challenging times. We will continue to work with USDA and Congress to address the urgent needs of school meal programs, so critical to student achievement and wellness.”  

The group said its Back-to-School 2021 Survey of school meal program directors nationwide found 97% were concerned about continued pandemic supply chain disruptions, with 65% citing “serious” concern. The second top concern was staff shortages. 

According to the survey, common problems cited by school districts are discontinued menu items, shortages, longer than normal lead times, significantly higher cost compared to pre-pandemic bids, and late/delayed deliveries.

The SNA said school food menus will be more streamlined this year, with substitutions likely until supply chain issues are resolved. 

Serving schools

While there are media reports of shortages of some school foods — especially center-of-the-plate foods — produce industry leaders said fresh produce has had fewer supply chain issues.

“Schools are not experiencing the same supply chain issues with fresh fruit and vegetables as they are with other foods and paper/plastic materials,” said Andrew Marshall, director of foodservice and foundation partnerships at United Fresh Produce Association. “Schools are still able to secure produce to meet the meal pattern requirement and implement the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Some schools have returned to offering self-serve salad bars,” Marshall said in an e-mail.

At the same time, Marshall said labor remains a challenge across the board. 

“Schools are having issues with securing enough cafeteria workers to prep and serve meals, distributors are having issues with drivers and warehouse pickers, grower-shippers have challenges with workers to load trucks, so this is something impacting everyone,” Marshall said. “But the produce supply chain is moving/getting product to customers, whereas with proteins, breads, paper/plastic, schools are finding that these products are just not available to order.”

Marshall said the current labor crunch also comes at a time when demand is very high in schools, due to universal meals and students returning to in-person learning. 

“Some distributors have are having to adjust delivery schedules, consolidate drops, and do more with less ... all while dealing with high freight costs,” he said. “Produce distributors are great problem solvers and by and large finding ways to service their school customers.”

Asked whether the USDA waivers could lead to less fruits and vegetables used in school nutrition programs, Mollie Van Lieu, senior director of nutrition policy at United Fresh Produce Association, said that the waivers should only result in less produce if there are indeed shortages of produce.

“Despite some of the headlines, we are just not hearing of a shortage of fresh produce like we are seeing with poultry, bread and paper/serving products,” Van Lieu said.

USDA actions

In the Sept. 29 announcement, the USDA said the agency is taking “swift action” to work with partners to look at using emergency procurement, higher meal reimbursement rates, and targeted waivers of certain meal standard requirements to confront the supply chain challenges.

“USDA is taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to supporting the school meal programs, taking action to help schools get out in front of possible challenges and addressing other issues that arise from all angles and with all available resources,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “We are committed to the program’s success, and confident in its ability to serve children well.” 

Beyond the funds announced Sept. 29, the USDA said it supporting the school meal programs by: 

• Providing a broad suite of flexibilities for the entire 2021-2022 school year that allow schools to leverage the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option to serve millions of children nutritious meals at no cost while still receiving the higher Summer Food Service Program reimbursement rate to cover increased operating costs; 
• Issuing several more flexibilities and resources for states and schools targeted at addressing potential and/or evolving challenges, including waiving certain administrative requirements and ensuring operators can leverage Summer Food Service Program to serve meals to children during unanticipated school closures;
• Approving state plans to distribute nearly $1.5 billion – including more than $1.1 billion for school meals – in relief funds through the Child Nutrition Emergency Operation Costs Reimbursement Programs to help offset the costs child nutrition program operators incurred during the early months of the pandemic;
• Hosting webinars attended by thousands of school nutrition professionals as well as the state agencies that administer the school meal programs to explain available flexibilities, procurement strategies, and more to help them navigate pandemic-related intricacies;
• Making sure schools receive sufficient funding for USDA Foods – domestically grown foods purchased by USDA that make up about 20% of the foods served through school meals – despite last year’s meal counts being skewed by the pandemic;
• Facilitating ongoing conversations with key stakeholders from across all aspects of the school meal programs, including school nutritionists, state agency staff, advocacy organizations, governors, Congressional representatives, and those involved in the production and distribution of USDA Foods; 
• Publishing a variety of new educational resources to help schools plan and serve meals, including a new set centered around the theme of Planning for a Dynamic School Environment, aimed at helping school nutrition professionals successfully leverage current flexibilities; and
• Ensuring schools and their partners understand complementary options for feeding children both in and out of school, such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program’s At-Risk Afterschool Program and grab ‘n’ go meals for children during remote or hybrid learning, student quarantines, and school closures. States may also continue to provide Pandemic EBT benefits to children attending schools participating in NSLP, either virtually or via a hybrid model.