Jul12
USDA Potato Surplus Commodity Purchase
USDA Potato Surplus Commodity Purchase
Last week, a $50 million dollar surplus commodity purchase for potatoes was announced by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. This announcement came in response to a request made by the National Potato Council (NPC) on behalf of the Washington State Potato Commission and the Idaho Potato Commission.
In February, during the NPC Washington Summit, the leaders of both the Washington State Potato Commission and the Idaho Potato Commission asked NPC to consider the step of asking USDA to utilize its surplus commodity purchasing (Section 32) authority to deal with a significant oversupply of potatoes. That oversupply could harm growers potentially for multiple years if not dealt with.
After two months of discussions with all of the state organizations to ensure no objection, NPC’s request was made via a letter to USDA on April 25th. That letter stated, “after numerous meetings with officials representing the major U.S. production areas, the industry has determined that a surplus commodity purchase of $50 million would provide some relief.”
USDA Section 32 Purchases may be used towards the National School Lunch Program, Child & Adult Feeding Program, Summer Food Service Program, Nutrition Program for the Elderly, Area Agencies on Aging, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Soup Kitchens and Food Banks, Charitable Institutions, Summer Camps, Food Bank Demonstration Projects, and Disaster Feeding.
