The Urban School Food Alliance of 17 of the largest U.S. school districts will provide training to districts across the country on how to purchase high-quality food while keeping costs low, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. The alliance was formed in 2012 so that schools would have more bargaining power for buying healthy food.
Under an agreement with the USDA, the alliance will take steps that include developing tools to educate schools on best practices in purchasing foods and creating an interactive bid template that will help standardize procurement processes. “With procurement practices laying the foundation for obtaining fresh, healthy food served throughout our nation’s schools, we look forward to developing and implementing new tools to push for a more efficient and sustainable food system that includes supporting local economies,” said Katie Wilson, executive director of the alliance.
The USDA also opened the application period for two sets of grants: $50 million in School Food Systems Transformation Challenge grants to support collaboration between school districts, producers, suppliers, and distributors, and $10 million in Farm to School grants to help schools incorporate locally produced food into their menus.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the initiatives during a visit to Annandale Terrace Elementary School in a Washington suburb. He said they would improve child nutrition and also help small and medium-size farmers market their goods. “We’re making an effort to try to address both issues,” he said. Annandale Terrace is among the schools that provide free meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision, an option in the school lunch and breakfast program.