Technical Tools - Procurement
Procurement is the centerpiece of The Lunch Box Phase II. Our Procurement area currently houses a modest assortment of useful information. With the launch of Phase II this area with be the clearinghouse for all things purchase related – from RFPs to Inventory essentials and the how to’s to handle fresh food purchasing in your operations will be housed in this area of The Lunch Box. We’ll be announcing when it goes live!
Building Regional Produce Supply Chains
Helping Farms Access & Sell to Multiple Channels
Helping Large‐Volume Buyers Access Regional Foods
Produced by FarmsReach - August 2011
Farmers' Market Finder
This site, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Marketing Service, enables users to find a farmer's market in their community.
Food Costs and Inventory
Food Distribution 2000 - Transforming Food Distribution for the Next Millenium
This report gives us a historical perspective on why our commodities are distributed in the current fashion:
"The commodity program in schools has two primary objectives. One is to assist U.S.
agricultural producers by buying products under price-support and surplus-removal programs.
The other is to support the school lunch program by providing nutritious, high-quality food to
school children. These two objectives should be met in an effective and efficient manner so that
as much money as possible is used to purchase food and as little as possible is wasted or spent
on nonvalue added activities. Each dollar that goes for unnecessary storage or other nonvalue
added costs -- and each dollar that goes for food that kids won’t eat -- is a dollar wasted."
Geographic Preference Rule
The purpose of this memorandum is to update the definition of what is considered
“unprocessed” for the purposes of applying the optional geographic preference for
procurement in the Child Nutrition Programs.
Health Impact Assessment HB 2800: OREGON FARM TO SCHOOL AND SCHOOL GARDEN POLICY
"A Health Impact Assessment detailing the potential impacts of Oregon’s 2011 Farm to School and School Garden legislation"
May 2011
House Bill 2800
"Relating to Oregon Farm-to-School and School Garden Program; creating new provisions; amending ORS 336.426; appropriating money; and declaring an emergency."
Local Harvest
Local Harvest enables users to find a specific type of outlet for farm fresh food, including online stores, farms, CSAs, Farmers' Markets, restaurants and grocery/co-ops.
Purchasing Whole Foods for Large Scale Operations
The approach to procurement in the sustainable and healthy large scale made-from-scratch cooking environment outlined in this guide applies principles of whole foods cooking with sourcing specifications aligned with the philosophy that future generations will benefit from the Sustainable Best Practices adopted and utilized from this point forward.
Saint Paul Public School Source Local Produce
Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is well known for its leadership in changing kids’ habits in the
lunchroom by offering a colorful mix of fresh fruits and vegetables that appeal to its diverse student population. For the past year, SPPS has been working with the School Food Learning Lab (SFLL) team to move toward more healthful, more local and more sustainably produced food purchasing and procurement practices. With a desire to improve the quality of foods served, SPPS had previously engaged in local produce purchasing during the harvest season. However, despite their attempts, these efforts had limited success beyond the initial offering of apples