Procuring Local Foods for Child Nutrition Programs

Across the country, an increasing number of child nutrition program operators are sourcing local foods and providing complementary educational activities that emphasize food, agriculture, and nutrition. While interest and enthusiasm for buying local foods has grown across the country, uncertainty about the rules for purchasing locally grown products persists. Procuring Local Foods for Child Nutrition Programs 7 School nutrition professionals are aware of a range of policies at the local, state and federal levels that apply to procurement, but navigating these rules correctly can be confusing and time consuming. Further sourcing local foods entails more than the procurement process and can require specialized knowledge about the local food marketplace that will inform a district’s purchasing decisions. In this guide, the authors present the information and resources that districts need to purchase local products for the school cafeteria. This information includes menu planning basics, the fundamental principles of procurement, the many potential sources of local products, and the variety of mechanisms that can be used to procure these products.