Content Type: Upcoming Events

Intended Audience: All CACFP Operators

Dear Program Operator,

Upcoming Webinar:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Patrick Leahy Farm to School Team will host a webinar for farm to school partners, including Child Nutrition Program (CNP) Operators, on the expanded geographic preference option in the final rule, which was detailed in USDA Policy Memorandum SP-19-2024, CACFP-07-2024, SFSP-12-2024: Initial Implementation: Child Nutrition Programs – Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The final rule includes an expansion of the geographic preference provision. Beginning on July 1, 2024, the provision will permit CNP operators to use ‘local’ as a specification when procuring unprocessed agricultural products. The USDA Farm to School Team will provide an overview to help farm to school partners share and learn about the geographic preference option.

Below are the details for this webinar:

• Date: Thursday, June 20, 2024
• Time: 11 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PST
• Registration: Register for this free webinar here.

Expanded Geographic Preference Option (Policy):

On May 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published Policy Memorandum SP-22-2024, CACFP-08-2024, SFSP-13-2024: Geographic Preference Expansion Related to the Final Rule Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020–2025 DGAs (Dietary Guidelines for Americans) located at Geographic Preference Expansion Related to the Final Rule - Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 DGAs.

This Policy Memorandum provides a detailed explanation of the expanded geographic preference option outlined in the Final Rule that was published on April 25, 2024, by the FNS.

Child Nutrition Program (CNP) Operators may use ‘local’ as a specification and continue to set a geographical preference when soliciting or buying unprocessed agricultural products. Please note the use of geographic preference remains an option, it is not required.

Background

The FNS published the Geographic Preference Option for the Procurement of Unprocessed Agricultural Products in Child Nutrition Programs – Final Rule, allowing CNP Operators the discretion to define local and the amount of preference or credit awarded to products that met this criterion. At the time, federal procurement regulations did not permit the use of ‘local’ as a product specification. The updated final rule, published on April 25, 2024, now extends the option to CNP Operators to use ‘local’ (e.g., locally grown, locally raised, or locally caught) as a procurement specification.

The updated federal procurement regulations, related to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), are located in Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 226.22(c)(1).

Summary

In summary, under the expanded geographic preference option, beginning on July 1, 2024, CNP Operators may choose to:

• Use ‘local’ as a specification (e.g., the written description of a product or service that a vendor must meet to be considered responsive to a solicitation) for local unprocessed agricultural products;
• Use a defined scoring advantage (e.g., additional credit or points given to ‘local’ unprocessed agricultural products during the evaluation of responses to a solicitation) for local unprocessed agricultural products;
• Adopt a mix of both strategies; or,
• They may elect to not use any of these approaches.

The FNS is in the process of updating existing resources and they are also developing a new fact sheet related to geographic preference to assist program operators when procuring local foods using the expanded geographic preference option. These resources will be available on the USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program website at www.fns.usda.gov/f2s/farm-to-school.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact the Community Procurement Unit by email at ProcurementCACFP@dss.ca.gov.

Thank you.

Family Engagement and Empowerment Division
California Department of Social Services