Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced that the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
will purchase up to 39.1 million pounds of fruit and vegetables
for donation to schools, neighborhood shelters for needy
families and other food aid institutions.
"An important message in President Bush’s Healthier US
initiative, which encourages Americans to eat healthy and
incorporate physical activity into their lifestyles, is to
consume plenty of fruits and vegetables," said Veneman. "This
purchase will increase the opportunity for recipients to
incorporate these foods into their diets."
The planned purchases include 3.6 million pounds of fresh Red
Apples and Golden Delicious Apples, 28.5 million pounds of
canned and frozen apricots and 7 million pounds of canned and
frozen asparagus.
"Because these crops are abundant this year, USDA is taking
advantage of the opportunity to purchase and share these
products with domestic food distribution agencies," said Bill
Hawks, under secretary for USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory
Programs.
Today’s announcement will be in addition to the 5.1 million
pounds of fresh apples and
1 million pounds of canned apricots that USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service has already purchased for a total of $2.2
million in fiscal year 2003.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service purchases a variety of
high-quality food products every year for distribution by USDA’s
Food and Nutrition Service to the National School Lunch Program,
the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program,
the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, the
Nutrition Program for the Elderly, the Commodity Supplemental
Food Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program. USDA
also makes emergency purchases of commodities for distribution
to victims of natural disasters.
In fiscal year 2002 USDA purchased 17.2 million pounds of
canned and frozen apricot products worth $9.6 million, as well
as 6.1 million pounds of canned and frozen asparagus worth $5
million; USDA did not purchase fresh apples in fiscal year 2002.
In fiscal year 2001, with special emergency funds supplied by
Congress, USDA purchased a total of 38.4 million pounds of fresh
apples worth over $11 million for federal feeding programs,
along with 27.5 million pounds of canned and frozen apricots
worth $15.7 million, and 1.7 million pounds of canned and frozen
asparagus worth $1.3 million.
