USDA Looks To Help School Districts Provide Meals

Those who provide school meals to students nationwide are reporting troubles doing their job. From food that's not available to prices that are much higher than anticipated, busting the budgets of school districts.

"...and it's necessary for the Department of Agriculture to learn about these experiences and be able to respond accordingly," noted Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack. He recently announced $1.5 billion to help states and school districts get the foods they need.

"First, USDA's Food Nutrition Service is going to be providing $1 billion to states to distribute cash payments to school districts to come and use the funds to purchase food for their school meals program" said USDA Deputy Under Secretary, Stacy Dean.

The remaining $500 million will be used by the USDA to buy more food commodities, which could then be distributed to school districts and could help schools obtain more items from local producers. 

School Nutrition Association President-Elect Lori Adkins praised the move, saying this is "Great news for our school meals programs and for the students we serve."

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