Though it was acknowledged that the USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program had some initial challenges, the program is apparently delivering hundreds of thousands of produce boxes to needy recipients every week and is working much better than many expected.
That was the overarching view of many participants who tuned in to a live, informal discussion on the topic on Wednesday morning, June 17, during United Fresh 2020 LIVE.
Mollie Van Lieu, senior director of nutrition policy for United Fresh, led the discussion and reported that 16 million boxes of agricultural products had been delivered to people in need in the first month of the program, which kicked off May 15. The fresh produce industry was awarded more than $450 million in the first round of the program, which represents almost 40 percent of the dollars and presumably a similar percentage of the product delivered. The first round of funding covers the first six weeks and goes through the end of June. Round 2 is expected to cover July and August and funnel as much as $800 million more to the fresh produce industry.
Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh, explained that within a day or so, USDA is expected to announce the contract amounts given to first round contractors who continue to qualify for the program. Next, the government agency is expected to award contracts to some applicants shut out of the first round for technical reasons that have been addressed or because they fill geographic needs that were not covered the first time around. And also within a few days, USDA is expected to issue a new request for proposal for the second round, allowing additional companies to submit bids.
Brendan Comito, COO of Capital City Fruit in Norwalk, IA, which was a contractor, reported that while there were some early administrative hiccups, the actual execution of creating and delivering the food boxes went very well.
Mark Munger, vice president of sales and marketing for 4Earth Farms in Los Angeles, another contractor, echoed that sentiment. He said it was “a little bit crazy” at first and the company has had only limited success in getting USDA folks to answer some of its technical question, “but we are real happy with the way the program has been rolled out.”
Jan Garrett, vice president of marketing and business development at CDS Distributing in San Francisco said the “program has been very successful for us” and noted they have delivered boxes to charitable organizations throughout California, with the Bay Area receiving most of their boxes
Several produce companies that were not contractors but have supplied companies assembling and delivering the boxes also reported that the program has been a nice shot in the arm for their businesses.
Alex DiNovo of DNO Produce in Columbus, OH, said the industry is better off because of the program and he chided the produce industry for being too harsh on USDA initially.
Patrick Kelly of Kelly Bros. Inc., Exeter, CA, said his firm has delivered many cartons of citrus to contractors, but he did note that some of those contractors have not included citrus in their summer boxes. He reminded those participating in the workshop that California still produces a lot of Valencia oranges and other citrus in the summer that are perfect for these boxes.
Lisa McNeece of Grimmway Farms in Bakersfield, CA, said carrots have also been in demand by many contractors. During the first month of the program, many different carrot SKUs were utilized but McNeece said the program gave a great outlet for a large supply of baby carrots in both one- and two-pound bags.
Tom Brugato of Coastal Fruit Co. in Portland, OR, explained that contractors like Coastal do include the contents of the boxes they are going to prepare in their RFP bid, but he said they can change the makeup of the box by amending the contract. “We have the flexibility to change the carton if the need arises,” he said, adding that they did keep citrus in their box for the second round but did alter some other items.
Several participants questioned whether the USDA will do a better job of vetting applicants in the second round. When the USDA announced the winners of the contract of the first round, at least a handful of companies that received contracts for produce deliveries did not have PACA license, which is standard and mandated for most produce sales.
United’s Guenther said the USDA is well aware of the situation and he expressed optimism that that particular issue would not resurface. He also noted that the USDA designed the program, accepted the RFP, and awarded contracts very quickly, which led to the initial problems. But he said the quick action was necessary as the ultimate goal was to deliver much needed produce to needy families -- and that has been successful.
Marvin Quebec of Quebec Distributing Co. in Oakland, CA, said that many produce companies were left out of the program the first time around, but so were many needy families as only a relatively small number of charitable organizations participated. “Lots of folks have been left out,” he said, arguing that the scope of the program needs to be expanded as unemployment claims continue to rise and many people are hurting.
Guenther, United Fresh’s longtime government affairs expert, expressed the association’s hope that the program survives beyond the COVID pandemic. The United States has many “safety net” programs to help people in need, and United Fresh believes this is one that can both deliver nutritious food where it is needed in an efficient manner and help agricultural producers.
