{"id":1413,"date":"2019-06-10T13:36:43","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T21:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/TalesFromTheField\/?p=1413"},"modified":"2019-06-10T13:36:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T21:36:48","slug":"usda-pilot-project-success-story-santa-clara-unified-school-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/TalesFromTheField\/?p=1413","title":{"rendered":"USDA Pilot Project Success Story — Santa Clara Unified School District"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“The Pilot Project gives us a greater opportunity to get items that the kids enjoy that we can’t necessarily affort to buy a lot of, like stone fruit — and it’s all local” — Karen Luna, Director of Nutrition Services for the Santa Clara Unified School District<\/p>

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception in 2014, the USDA Pilot Project for the\nProcurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables has been a valuable way for\nparticipating California school districts to stretch their budgets while\nmaximizing their purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables. Participating in the\nPilot Project benefits school districts by allowing them to use a portion of\ntheir USDA Foods commodity allocation to purchase fresh and minimally processed\nfruits and vegetables directly from USDA-approved vendors. (Read more about the\nPilot Project in our earlier post here<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa Clara Unified School District<\/a>\n(SCUSD) is one example of a California district that has been using the Pilot\nProject to increase its ability to purchase fresh and minimally processed\nfruits and vegetables. A 56-square-mile area encompassing neighborhoods in the cities\nof Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose and Cupertino, SCUSD has over 15,000 K-12 students\nacross 27 school sites. The district serves about 2,400 breakfasts and 7,500\nlunches each day, and approximately 38% of SCUSD\u2019s students qualify for free\nand reduced-price meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen Luna, Director of Nutrition Services for SCUSD, said 2019\/2020\nwill be the district\u2019s third year participating in the Pilot Project. SCUSD\nallocated $50,000 in 2017\/2018 and 2018\/2019, and chose to increase their\nallocation to $75,000 for 2019\/2020. The district utilizes its Pilot Project\nfunds to purchase minimally processed fruits and vegetables, such as sliced\napples, as well as stone fruit, pears, persimmons, plums and many types of\ncitrus. Luna uses the Pilot Project to supplement the fruits and vegetables grown\non SCUSD\u2019s 11-acre farm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luna believes the Pilot Program is a valuable opportunity\nthat enables school districts to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that they\nmight not be able to afford otherwise because they can use their USDA commodity\ndollars. Using USDA commodity dollars toward fresh fruits and vegetables is not\nonly beneficial for the students, Luna said, but also for her district because it\nhelps offset additional expenses resulting from changes to federal meal requirements.\nLuna also appreciates that the USDA-approved vendor SCUSD works with sources\nmuch of its produce from local family farms. By increasing the amount of\nproduce served by using the Pilot Project in combination with the district\u2019s\nfarm to school activities, Luna has seen an increase in students\u2019 willingness\nto eat fresh fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see more of what SCUSD is serving up, follow them on Instagram\nat @santaclaraunifiednutriton<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the Pilot Project, please visit\nthe California Department of Education\u2019s Pilot Project\nwebsite<\/a>. Farmers and distributors interested in selling to schools as\npart of the Pilot Project can click here<\/a>\nto learn how to become a USDA-approved vendor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n