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Jean Daniel (703) 305-2286
jean.daniel@fns.usda.gov

USDA “PYRAMID OF EXCELLENCE” PRESENTED TO 5 NUTRITION PROGRAMS

MILWAUKEE, Wisc., Nov. 18, 1999--Five state and local agencies from around the nation today received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pyramid of Excellence Award for outstanding work in operating the USDA’s nutrition assistance programs.

Shirley R. Watkins, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said the Pyramid Award is presented annually to public and private agencies that have been extraordinarily effective in their administration of USDA’s nutrition assistance programs, including the Food Stamp Program, WIC, the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, and commodity support programs. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Milwaukee.

“There are hundreds of excellent programs operating all around the country, but these five winners have set an example of good administration, good ideas, innovation and hard work that others can emulate to make their own programs better,” Watkins said. “They have dedicated themselves to making their programs work in the best possible way for the taxpayers and for the people they serve.”

The Pyramid of Excellence was presented in five categories of nutrition assistance: food stamps, community nutrition, commodity programs, school programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The winners include:

  • Food Stamps: The Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, (Wisc.) Inc.

  • Community Nutrition: City of Sacramento (Calif.) and the Sacramento Hunger Commission

  • Commodity Programs: Mountain Plains Region (Colo., Iowa, Kan., Mo., Mont., Neb., N.D., S.D., Utah, Wyo.) Nutrition Advisory Committee

  • School Programs: Hawthorne (Calif.) School District, Nutrition and Food Services

  • WIC: Cornerstone, the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Community Health and Prevention

Watkins said the winners were selected on the basis of their efforts to improve program access and to promote nutrition education, efficiency and effectiveness, and integrity and accountability.

These awards are going to public and private agencies all across the country, in cities and states both large and small, operating programs that vary widely,” Watkins said. “But they all share USDA’s common mission of ensuring that all Americans have access to a healthy diet.”

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