M A K I N G S E N S E ( A N D C E N T S ) O F U S D A F O O D S

USDA FOODS SHOW 2016

8:30 – 8:45 Welcome

8:45 – 9:00 Professional Standards

9:00 – 9:15 USDA Food Tool Kit Updates

Top Tomato Award

9:15 – 9:30 ISBE Updates

9:30 – 10:00 Let Forecasting Be the Solution Key Area Operations

(CEU: 0.5)

10:15 – 11:15 DoD Produce Update Key Area Operations

(CEU: 1.0)

11:30 – 12:30

Break-out Sessions

Menu Planning and USDA Food Planning for

Beginners

Best Practices for Procurement and Bidding

of USDA Reprocessed Foods

Key Area Operations

(CEU: 1.0)

12:30 – 3:30

USDA Foods Show Exhibit

*Food shows are not eligible for SNA Key Area Hours

Key Area Operations

(CEU: 2.0)*

Come for 10+ hours of professional development CEUs,

but stay for the fun! Highlights:

● NEW and specially designed for operations staff, an exclusively Management Seminar that runs concurrent with the annual conference

○ More to come, so stay tuned... ● Special book reading and signing with the author of the Lunch Lady graphic novel series,

Jarrett Krosoczka ● Inspiring keynote speakers including Andy Core (Having the Juice to Get and Maintain

Customers), Mary Milla (What’s Your Point?) and Tommy Waffor (Inspiring Customer Centered Teams)

● Informative breakout sessions, expansive food show (Tuesday, 6.14.15) and lots of networking

DOD FRESH PRODUCE Peter Sikorski, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, Get Fresh Produce

Stacy Lenihan, MS, RD, Township High School District 211

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE PROGRAM

• Allows schools to use USDA Foods entitlement

dollars to buy fresh produce

• The web-based Fresh Fruit and Vegetable

Order/Receipt System is the ordering mechanism for

the DoD Fresh program (FFAVORS)

BENEFITS

• Flexibility

• Consistency

• Quality

• Variety

• Online ordering and fund tracking

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

• Schools must indicate on the Illinois Commodity System

if they plan to participate under DoD Fresh Fruits and

Vegetables on the Annual Order Form

• The amount to be used for this program must be

specified in the “Total PAL $’s to spend on DoD” field

• Each school district decides on the amount to allocate

• Use it or Lose it

HOW TO PLACE AN ORDER

• Orders can be placed weekly

• After an order has been received, a goods receipt

is required to be completed within 7 calendar days

• School DoD Vendor List by city is available on ISBE’s

website

GUIDELINES FOR ORDERING

• Customers can order a maximum of 10 CALENDAR

days from the current date

• No orders can be placed or changed within 72

hours (3 business days) of delivery

HOW THE MENU EVOLVES

• Catalog will change throughout the year, based on

domestic availability of products

• Initial catalog is 128 items. This can shrink to as few

as 80-90 by spring due to changes in domestic

availability; then, it starts to come back to full as we

get into March

• Example: Strawberries: August- November, then

gone, back in February-May

• Innovation where possible : New in 2015: multi-

colored Baby Carrots, Baby Kale, Arugula

SEASONALITY

Buy:

- Pears, March-June

- Peppers, April, May

- Potatoes: Sept-Nov

- Romaine Hearts: Feb-Apr

- Squash: Aug-Sep

- Watermelon: September

- Honeydew & Cantaloupe: Aug-Sep

Always:

- Apples, Beans, Carrots, Cabbage, Mushrooms, Spinach, Spring Mix

Avoid: - Citrus, September-November

Broccoli & Cauliflower, September

- Precut Lettuces, November-January

- Celery: December - Corn: February - Sugar Snap Peas: Sep-Nov - Grapes: January

FRESH VS. CANNED VS. FROZEN

• Cost Comparison

• Nutritional Content

• Shelf Life

• Student Preferences

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Raw Vegetable Cups

• Fresh Fruit Cups

• Individually packaged fruit &

vegetables convenient for

satellite programs

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Kale Chips

• Wash kale

• Dry Well

• Tear into pieces

• Spray or coat

with oil

• Season with:

• Cumin

• Red Pepper

Flakes

• Garlic

• Soup

• Zucchini

• Broccoli

• Carrot

• Cauliflower

• Potato

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Entrée Salads

• Chicken Caesar

• Chopped Chicken

• Strawberry Spinach

• Chef

• Tomato, Basil, & Mozzarella

• Southwestern

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Entrees

• Taco Salad/Built to order burrito bar

• Pasta Primavera with Sautéed Veggies

• Vegetable & Hummus Bistro Box

• Roasted Veggie & Cheese Flatbread

• Eggplant Panini

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Entrees

• Baked Potato & Chili Bar (potatoes, broccoli)

• Homemade Lo Mein (cabbage, bok choy, carrots, onions)

• Yogurt Parfait (fresh berries)

• Vegetable Pizza

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

• Baking

• Whole Grain Zucchini Muffins

• Herbs

• Cilantro

• Basil

• Freezing Herbs

UTILIZING FRESH PRODUCE IN YOUR DISTRICT

Tomato Basil

Mozzarella Salad

Cilantro Three Bean Salad

YOUR PRODUCE SUPPLIER SHOULD…

• Deliver you 95% usable product, or you should demand a replacement within 24 hours; if you are wasting product the minute it comes in the door, you need to hold your supplier accountable

• Be flexible, and help you out when you have an emergency or need special handling/pricing/service

• Receive their bulk produce inbound several times per week, minimizing age, maximizing shelf life in your coolers

• Offer you the ability to be innovative

• Be “food safe” • Maintain cold chain

• Prevent cross contamination with allergens

• Have a full traceability program

RECEIVING FRESH PRODUCE

• Inspect your produce at time of delivery, but certainly no less than 24 hours from delivery

• If there is more than 5% unacceptable product (i.e. 2-3 apples in a case), reject it or call your supplier for a replacement

• If there is “hidden damage”, i.e. lettuce looks good on the outside, but you cut into it and it is brown, contact your supplier as soon as you find out; if possible, take picture (supplier should use that for QA training)

• Credit requests within 24 hours should be accepted

• Hold bad product for your supplier to pick up

HANDLING PRODUCE TO MAXIMIZE QUALITY

• Don’t wash produce well before it will be served (such as at time of receiving); prewashing adds moisture, which will decrease shelf life, sometimes dramatically

• Apples: Let them “warm up” before washing, so as not to expose the wax. Wax is not harmful, but can give apples unattractive sheen

• Berries: Freeze them; Avocados: place in water

• Avoid Ethylene exposure where possible

ETHYLENE

• Store products in your cooler to avoid premature aging

• Ethylene is a naturally occurring gas that is given off by ripening fruit

• Ethylene gas can prematurely age highly sensitive vegetables

• Ethylene gas can also hasten the ripening of under-ripe fruit (peach in a brown bag)

• Separate ethylene producing fruits from vegetables whenever possible

ETHYLENE

Emits Ethylene Prematurely Aged by Ethylene

Apples Broccoli

Cantaloupe Cabbage

Honeydew Carrots

Unripe Bananas Cauliflower

Tomatoes Cucumbers

Peaches Squash

Plums Peppers

Avocados Watermelon

FRUIT SHELF LIFE

• Apples: 1 month

• Citrus: 6 weeks

• Grapes: 2.5 weeks

• Pears: 2 months (assuming unripened)

• Melons and Pineapple: 1 week

• Stone fruit: 3 weeks (assuming unripened)

• Avocados: 3 weeks (unripened)

VEGETABLE SHELF LIFE

• Carrots: 1 month

• Beets, Parsnips: 2+ months

• Cabbage, Cauliflower, Cucs, Peppers: 1 week

• Onions: Several Months

• Potatoes: Several Months

• Most lettuces: 1 week

• Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts: 5 days

• Mushrooms: 3 days

COST SAVING TIPS

• Split cases are more expensive, and it is

justified: additional labor, packaging, labeling,

traceability

Bulk versus split cases example:

• 50lb Yellow Onion: $17.80 ($0.356/pound)

• 10lb Yellow Onion: $7.30 ($0.730/pound)

• You could throw out more than 50% of the bulk

sack, and still come out ahead in total cost

CUT IT YOURSELF?

• Is it worth prepping yourself again?

• Romaine 24ct: $0.75/pound

• Chopped Romaine 6/2lb: $1.90/pound, $2.13

• Do the math on: Romaine, Cauliflower, Celery, Melons

• Don’t bother on Carrots, Broccoli

LOCAL AND FOOD SAFETY

• Everyone is getting more focused on Local • Problem #1, outside of September and a little October, school

is not in session during local harvest in Chicago (mid-June to Oct.)

• Problem #2, is this food up to quality expectations?

• Problem #3, is this food safe?

• Local is getting there, but still far below big farm standards • No precooling of product; significant loss of temperature

control

• Transportation issues

• Unreliable supply

• Lack of 3rd party audits

• Lack of water

• Lack of sanitation training