Washington, DC, March 17, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced new contacts to encourage communication with USDA to help feed kids and ensure the United States food supply chain remains strong in response to the COVID-19 outbreak:

“Food is essential all year round, but in the face of a pandemic it is critical the shelves remain stocked and supplies remain plentiful. America’s farmers and ranchers, and those on the front lines in the food service industry are doing their part,” said Secretary Perdue. “President Trump is encouraging a whole of America approach to the challenges we currently face. At USDA we know when we work together to solve the problems facing us, we can overcome this time of uncertainty and fear. If you have ideas or solutions for USDA, I urge you to reach out – we want to hear from the experts in the field.”

For solutions to feeding children impacted by COVID-19, email FeedingKids@usda.gov. For solutions impacting America’s food supply chain and other logistical complications, email FoodSupplyChain@usda.gov.

Feeding Kids:

Today, Secretary Perdue announced a collaboration with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver nearly 1,000,000 meals per week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19. These boxes will contain five days worth of shelf-stable, nutritious, individually packaged foods that meet USDA’s summer food requirements. The use of this innovative delivery system will ensure rural children receive nutritious food while limiting exposure to COVID-19.

Last week, Secretary Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s meal programs to provide meals to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

Food Supply Chain:

President Trump’s whole of government approach is ensuring food and essentials are constantly available. USDA has been in communication with Food and Grocery Stakeholders and Executives and has hosted stakeholder calls with President Trump at the White House to discuss the impact COVID-19 has on America’s food supply chain.

While it is important to have shelf-stable foods on hand, there is no need to hoard items. Our supply chains remain strong, so please do your part to ensure we stay calm and act responsibly.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

WASHINGTON, DC, March 17, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced a collaboration with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver nearly 1,000,000 meals to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19:

“Feeding children who are affected by school closures is a top priority for President Trump and this Administration. USDA is working with private sector partners to deliver boxes of food to children in rural America who are affected by school closures,” said Secretary Perdue. “Right now, USDA and local providers are utilizing a range of innovative feeding programs to ensure children are practicing social distancing but are still receiving healthy and nutritious food. This whole of America approach to tackling the coronavirus leverages private sector ingenuity with the exact same federal financing as the Summer Food Service Program. USDA has already taken swift action to ensure children are fed in the event of school closures, and we continue to waive restrictions and expand flexibilities across our programs.”

“We are grateful to come alongside USDA, PepsiCo, and McLane Global to ensure that children impacted by school closures get access to nutritious food regardless of where they live. We know from first-hand experience that families with children who live in rural communities across the U.S. are often unable to access the existing food sites. Meal delivery is critical for children in rural America to have consistent access to food when school is out. This is one way we, as citizens of this great nation, can respond to our neighbors in need,” said Jeremy Everett, Executive Director, Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty.

“McLane Global was proud to take part in the success of the summer Meals-2-You home delivery pilot program in 2019. It was a great opportunity to bring private industry best practices together with the USDA to combat rural hunger. Given the rapid disruptions driven by COVID-19, we can work together to swiftly take this model nationwide. McLane Global is ready to do its part to support the fight against hunger through this crisis,” said Denton McLane, Chairman, McLane Global.

“As schools around the country close, millions of schoolchildren now don’t know where their next meal is coming from. In the face of this unprecedented crisis, it’s critical that the private sector help ensure these students have access to nutritious meals,” said Jon Banner, Executive Vice President, PepsiCo Global Communications and President, PepsiCo Foundation. “PepsiCo is committing $1 million to help Baylor create a solution with USDA to identify children most in need and then we will help reach them with at least 200,000 meals per week—one way we are deploying our food and beverage resources to help those most vulnerable.”

Background

USDA will utilize best practices learned through a summer pilot program in 2019 to deliver food boxes to children affected by school closures due to COVID-19 in rural America. Baylor will coordinate with the appropriate state officials to prioritize students who do not currently have access to a Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) site and have an active outbreak of COVID-19. Initial capacity is limited, and additional vendors are requested and encouraged to ensure we can provide food to more rural children as additional schools close. USDA has created a single contact for those who have suggestions, ideas, or want to help feed kids across the country. Email FeedingKids@usda.gov.

The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, and PepsiCo will begin distributing next week and will quickly increase capacity of nearly 1,000,000 nutritious meals per week. In addition to distribution, PepsiCo will generously provide $1 million in funding to the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty to facilitate nationwide distribution in the coming weeks. These boxes will contain five days worth of shelf-stable, nutritious, individually packaged foods that meet USDA’s summer food requirements. The use of this innovative delivery system will ensure rural children receive nutritious food while limiting exposure to COVID-19. USDA will reimburse private sector partners for the same rate as an SFSP site.

Last week, Secretary Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

USDA intends to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve our program participants across our 15 nutrition programs. We have already begun to issue waivers to ease program operations and protect the health of participants. USDA is receiving requests for waivers on an ongoing basis. As of today, USDA has been asked to waive congregate feeding requirements in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and USDA has granted those requests.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Washington, DC, March 13, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued this statement following President Donald J. Trump’s Declaration of a National Emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak:

“President Trump continues to take decisive action to ensure the safety, security, and health of the American people by declaring a National Emergency in response to the Coronavirus,” said Secretary Perdue. “USDA has already taken action to ensure children are fed in the event of school closures, and we continue to waive restrictions and expand flexibilities across our programs. As a nation, we must remain vigilant, pull together, put any kind of partisanship aside, and do what needs to be done for the American people.”

Background:

Earlier this week, Secretary Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. You may click HERE to watch Secretary Perdue discuss the proactive flexibilities during the House Appropriations hearing. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

USDA intends to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve our program participants across our 15 nutrition programs. We have already begun to issue waivers to ease program operations and protect the health of participants. USDA is receiving requests for waivers on an ongoing basis. As of today, USDA has been asked to waive congregate feeding requirements in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming and USDA has granted those requests.

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Washington, DC, March 12, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued this statement following President Donald J. Trump’s address to the nation regarding COVID-19:

“President Trump has made the safety, security, and health of the American people his top priority. The whole of government approach and the unprecedented, preemptive actions the President has taken continues to keep the risk of Coronavirus to most Americans low,” said Secretary Perdue. “This is a time we all need to remain ever vigilant, pull together, put any kind of partisanship aside, and do what we need to do for the American people. At USDA, we are working to ensure children who are affected by school closures continue to get fed. We intend to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve those affected by the outbreak.”

Background:

Earlier this week, Secretary Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. You may play this YouTube video to watch Secretary Perdue discuss the proactive flexibilities during the House Appropriations hearing. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

USDA intends to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve our program participants across our 15 nutrition programs. We have already begun to issue waivers to ease program operations and protect the health of participants. USDA is receiving requests for waivers on an ongoing basis. As of today, USDA has been asked to waive congregate feeding requirements in Washington, California, Maryland, Alaska, Utah, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Maine, and Kansas and USDA has granted those requests.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Washington, DC, March 10, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue attended the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) 48th Annual Legislative Action Conference yesterday where he participated in a fireside chat with SNA President Gay Anderson and SNA CEO Patricia Montague. The Secretary discussed USDA’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) as it relates to school meal programs and all of the positive changes USDA has made when it comes to providing greater flexibility in nutrition requirements for school meal programs in order to make food choices both healthful and appealing to students.

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch the Secretary’s fireside chat.

Background:

Today, Secretary Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. You may click HERE to watch Secretary Perdue discuss the proactive flexibilities during today’s House Appropriations hearing. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

In December 2018, Secretary Perdue empowered local schools with additional options to serve healthy and appealing meals. A final rule on school meal flexibilities, increased local flexibility in implementing school nutrition standards for milk, whole grains, and sodium. Secretary Perdue said the final rule will deliver on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) promise to develop forward-thinking strategies that ensure school nutrition standards are both healthful and practical. The actions benefit nearly 99,000 schools and institutions that feed 30 million children annually through USDA’s school meal programs. The rule:

• Provides the option to offer flavored, low-fat milk to children participating in school meal programs, and to participants ages six and older in the Special Milk Program for Children (SMP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP);
• Requires half of the weekly grains in the school lunch and breakfast menu be whole grain-rich; and
• Provides more time to reduce sodium levels in school meals.

Delivering on his promise to act on feedback from dietary professionals, Secretary Perdue announced two proposals in January 2020 that put local school and summer food service operators back in the driver’s seat of their programs, because they know their children best. The first proposed rule continues to ensure children receive wholesome, tasty meals that provide the nutrition they need to grow and thrive, while offering increased flexibilities for local school districts to serve children food they will want to eat, by:

• Allowing local schools to offer more vegetable varieties, while keeping plenty of veggies in each meal;
• Making it easier for schools to offer school lunch entrees for a la carte purchase, thereby reducing food waste;
• Providing schools options to customize meal patterns to best serve children in different grades or smaller schools who eat together;
• Supporting a more customized school breakfast environment by letting schools adjust fruit servings and making it simpler to offer meats/meat alternates, ultimately encouraging breakfast options outside the cafeteria so students can start their day with a healthy breakfast; and
• Shifting to a performance-focused administrative review process that is less burdensome and time consuming, which would increase collaboration with operators to improve program integrity.

The second proposed rule makes customer-focused reforms to the Summer Food Service Program, which serves more than 2.6 million children during the summer months, when they are at higher risk of food insecurity and poor nutrition because they do not have access to school meals. The summer feeding rule offers operators more local control to better serve children by:

• Providing more flexibilities in choosing meal offerings, meal service times, and allowing children to take certain nonperishable food items offsite;
• Granting tested and proven flexibilities that make it easier for sponsors and sites to participate by reducing paperwork and streamlining the application process for high-performing, experienced operators;
• Balancing program integrity and flexibility with stronger monitoring to help sponsors maximize their resources; and
• Clarifying performance standards and eligibility requirements for sites.

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WASHINGTON, DC, March 10, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. You may click HERE or on the image below to watch Secretary Perdue discuss the proactive flexibilities during today’s House Appropriations hearing.

Secretary Perdue discusses the proactive flexibilities during today’s House Appropriations hearing

Background:

During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social distancing situation.

As always, states may request waivers of other Program requirements, as needed, and those will be considered on a case-by-case basis. States may submit waiver requests immediately by providing their FNS Regional Office with the required waiver information. Information on how to submit a waiver request is available at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/child-nutrition-program-waiver-request-guidance-and-protocol-revised. The Regional Offices are also available to provide technical assistance on development of waiver requests.

Today’s announcement is effective immediately and will cover efforts triggered by school closings through June 30, 2020. USDA stands ready to provide additional assistance to areas impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) as part of the much larger government-wide response, in accordance with the law.

All Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs – including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs – have flexibilities and contingencies built-in to allow them to respond to on-the-ground realities in the event of a disaster or emergency situation. For more information on FNS programs, please visit: https://www.fns.usda.gov/disaster/pandemic. For more information about the coronavirus response across USDA, please visit: www.usda.gov/coronavirus.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that leverage America’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the Dietary Guidelines for Americans with HHS’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.

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Washington, DC, March 7, 2020 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved a request from California to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. These meals are available at no cost to low-income children – and are not required to be served in a group setting – to ensure kids receive nutritious meals while schools are temporarily closed.

“USDA stands with the people of California as a part of a federal-wide coordinated response,” said Brandon Lipps, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. “The flexibility provided by the waiver approved today will help ensure that our children get wholesome meals, safeguarding their health during times of need.”

The waiver announced today is effective immediately and will continue through June 30, 2020. USDA stands ready to provide additional assistance to the people of California and other areas impacted by the coronavirus as allowed by law and in coordination with the much larger government-wide response.

All Food and Nutrition Service programs – including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs – have flexibilities and contingencies built-in to allow them to respond to on-the-ground realities in the event of a disaster or emergency situation. For more information about the coronavirus response across USDA, please visit: www.usda.gov/coronavirus.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that leverage American’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the  Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Washington, DC, March 6, 2020 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved a request from Washington State to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. These meals are available at no cost to low-income children, and are not required to be served in a group setting, to ensure kids receive nutritious meals while schools are temporarily closed.

“USDA stands with the people of Washington State as a part of a federal-wide coordinated response,” said Brandon Lipps, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. “The flexibility provided by the waiver approved today will help ensure that our children get wholesome meals, safeguarding their health during times of need.”

The waiver announced today is effective immediately and will continue through June 30, 2020. USDA stands ready to provide additional assistance to the people of Washington State and other areas impacted by the coronavirus as allowed by law and in coordination with the much larger government-wide response.

All Food and Nutrition Service programs – including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs – have flexibilities and contingencies built-in to allow them to respond to on-the-ground realities in the event of a disaster or emergency situation. For more information about the coronavirus response across USDA, please visit: www.usda.gov/coronavirus.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs  that leverage American’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the  Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.