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USDA to Purchase up to 8.1 Million Pounds of Red Tart Cherries
Purchase to Benefit Domestic Food Assistance Programs, Relieve Pressure on West Michigan Growers
Washington,
Jan 8, 2008 -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it intends to purchase up to 8.1 million pounds of surplus red tart cherries for child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.
“The announcement brings the total amount of cherries purchased by the USDA to more than 43 million pounds since the 2002 crop disaster,” said U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland. “It has provided much-needed support to the industry as it works to compete in new domestic and international markets.”
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases high-quality food products for distribution by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for the school lunch program, school breakfast programs, the summer food service program, the food distribution program on Indian reservations, the nutrition program for the elderly, the commodity supplemental food program and the emergency food assistance program.
FNS will survey potential recipients to determine how much product will be accepted for shipping. AMS will seek the lowest overall cost by publicly inviting bids to supply the desired quantity and by awarding contracts to responsible bidders.
“Last year was a success story as far as introducing cherry-apple juice into the school lunch program and into the commercial sector,” said Philip J. Korson, President of the Cherry Marketing Institute, Inc. “The industry hopes to further expand on such efforts, including further marketing its dry cherry products.”
Michigan is first in the country in cherry production, producing 75 percent of the U.S. supply.
More information about USDA programs is available at http://www.usda.gov.
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