MONTEREY, CA — This year’s Foodservice Conference, held by the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) BB #:378962, hosted more than 100 school foodservice professionals.
They participated in a separate program, called the K-12 Foodservice Forum, which also featured an address from Cindy Long, who this summer was appointed Deputy Under Secretary at U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.
Long said school foodservice is more important than ever, as they often act as the largest restaurant in any town.
During the July 25-26 event in Monterey, CA, Long also spoke directly with Blue Book Services.
She said in her new role, she has two main priorities: support USDA nutrition priorities and strengthen local and regional supply chains.
Long said the fresh produce industry ought to be able to benefit from both.
For instance, schools now have more funds and desire to buy local food, and often they buy local fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Schools weren’t always a high priority [for suppliers], even though it’s high volume,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for fresh produce companies, whether they’re serving huge districts or even a small, 12-school one.”
Long said she hopes to help produce companies become better familiar with schools and USDA feeding programs.
One program, she said, involves school districts working through the Department of Defense fresh program, which sources fresh produce for commissaries. In some instances, schools are purchasing more fruits and vegetables than the commissaries.
While she’s in this new role, which is a political appointment, she has much experience within USDA, most recently as an administrator with USDA’s FNS, where she led its implementation of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act.
She said IFPA also helps members get involved in supplying produce to schools, as evidenced by the school foodservice focus at the July conference.
She said her promotion comes at a good time because USDA is in the implementation phase of many of the projects she worked on as administrator.
Long is optimistic that USDA programs continue to increase purchases of fresh produce, as they have bipartisan support in Congress, which authorizes their funding.
One sticky point is that her new position is a political appointment, rather than administrative, so that if there’s a change in presidential administrations after the November election, new administrations tend to fill political appointments with people from their party.
Despite the political position during election season, Long said she “will focus on what’s in front of me.”
