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Release No. 0363.05

Contact: Ed Loyd (202) 720-4623
George Chartier (202) 720-8998

JOHANNS ANNOUNCES PURCHASE OF UP TO 20 MILLION POUNDS OF SWEET POTATOES

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2005 - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced USDA will purchase up to 20 million pounds of sweet potatoes to be donated to child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.

"This purchase of sweet potatoes will provide recipients of our federal food programs with a healthy and nutritious food," said Johanns. "USDA is moving quickly to purchase sweet potatoes while they are abundant to make them available to schools and our domestic food assistance programs."

Today's announced purchase will be made with funds for fiscal year 2006, which begins Oct. 1, 2005. In fiscal year 2005 USDA purchased 22.9 million pounds sweet potato products - including 18.3 million pounds of canned sweet potatoes, 831,000 pounds of frozen sweet potatoes, and 3.6 million pounds of fresh sweet potatoes. In addition, USDA will determine final quantities of fresh, frozen and canned products for today's announced purchase when it awards contracts.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases a variety of high quality food products each year for distribution by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for 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. In addition, USDA also makes emergency purchases of commodities for distribution to victims of natural disasters.

In fiscal year 2004, AMS purchased 1.5 billion pounds of food worth nearly $1 billion for federal food programs, including 216 million pounds of beef, pork, lamb and fish; 233 million pounds of eggs, chicken and other poultry products; and more than 1 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables.

With today's announcement of USDA's intention to buy, FNS will survey potential recipients to determine how much product will be accepted for shipping. AMS will seek the lowest overall cost by publicly inviting bids to supply the desired quantity and by awarding contracts to responsible bidders.

Government food experts work to ensure that all the food they purchase is healthful and nutritious. Food items are normally required to be low in fat, sugar and sodium. The commodities must meet specified grade requirements and be USDA-inspected or graded to ensure quality. AMS purchases only products of 100 percent domestic origin.

More information about USDA programs is available at http://www.usda.gov.



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