Jean
Daniel (703) 305-2286 jean.daniel@fns.usda.gov
USDA
“PYRAMID OF EXCELLENCE” PRESENTED TO 5 NUTRITION PROGRAMS
MILWAUKEE,
Wisc., Nov. 18, 1999--Five state and local agencies from around the nation today
received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pyramid of Excellence Award for
outstanding work in operating the USDA’s nutrition assistance programs.
Shirley
R. Watkins, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said the
Pyramid Award is presented annually to public and private agencies that have
been extraordinarily effective in their administration of USDA’s nutrition
assistance programs, including the Food Stamp Program, WIC, the National School
Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, and commodity support programs. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Milwaukee.
“There
are hundreds of excellent programs operating all around the country, but these
five winners have set an example of good administration, good ideas, innovation
and hard work that others can emulate to make their own programs better,”
Watkins said. “They have
dedicated themselves to making their programs work in the best possible way for
the taxpayers and for the people they serve.”
The
Pyramid of Excellence was presented in five categories of nutrition assistance:
food stamps, community nutrition, commodity programs, school programs, and the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The winners include:
-
Food
Stamps: The Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, (Wisc.) Inc.
-
Community
Nutrition: City of Sacramento (Calif.) and the Sacramento Hunger Commission
-
Commodity
Programs: Mountain Plains Region (Colo., Iowa, Kan., Mo., Mont., Neb., N.D.,
S.D., Utah, Wyo.) Nutrition Advisory Committee
-
School
Programs: Hawthorne (Calif.) School District, Nutrition and Food Services
-
WIC:
Cornerstone, the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of
Community Health and Prevention
Watkins
said the winners were selected on the basis of their efforts to improve program
access and to promote nutrition education, efficiency and effectiveness, and
integrity and accountability.
These awards are going to public and private agencies
all across the country, in cities and states both large and small, operating
programs that vary widely,” Watkins said. “But they all share USDA’s common
mission of ensuring that all Americans have access to a healthy diet.”
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