This memorandum addresses information in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 regarding the Buy American requirements in the national school meal programs.
Program integrity is essential in all aspects of program administration and state agencies contribute to this by overseeing program operations. To this end, this memorandum provides guidance on state agency oversight of program operator procurement procedures while FNS is currently developing a Local Agency Procurement Review Tool to aid state agencies.
This memorandum clarifies how school food authorities may use funds provided under Sections 4 and 11 or 19 of the National School Lunch Act to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program vendors.
The purpose of this memo is to highlight previously issued guidance on the disclosure of eligibility information between child nutrition programs, and to offer clarification on the application of this policy.