News & Notes
Welcome to this special edition of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) e-letter! We are pleased to devote this issue to informing you of the exciting changes to the CSFP Food Package that will be implemented in November 2019. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has worked with our CSFP state and local agency partners and with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to plan and deliver improvements that will benefit those who participate in this monthly food package program. The improvements better align with MyPlate recommendations and allow CSFP providers to offer more variety and flexibility within each food package category. Some of the changes you will see include:
- Double the amount of vegetables
- More protein, including plant-based proteins such as canned beans and lentils
- Changing some foods to pack sizes that are more appropriate for small households and allow participants to receive a greater variety of foods
- Changes that allow all food to be distributed on a monthly basis
View the CSFP Food Package Monthly Distribution Rates Effective November 1, 2019 to see all the details of what the food package categories and offerings will look like with these enhancements.
Please keep reading and click on the hyperlinks throughout this edition to learn more about the changes and resources available to help you prepare for the transition.
This photo shows what a sample CSFP food package could look like when the changes go into effect in November 2019.
Thank You to the CSFP Community
FNS launched the CSFP Food Package Review process in 2017 by convening a Workgroup of state and local agency partners, along with FNS staff, to provide feedback. The Workgroup actively participated in a series of meetings and discussions to develop a set of recommendations that were presented to FNS leadership. Throughout the process, the National CSFP Association (NCSFPA) provided support by collecting hundreds of survey responses from program sites and participants to provide feedback on the food package, as well as coordinating USDA-led listening sessions at the annual conference in 2017. We would like to thank the entire CSFP community for the ideas and feedback that led to the significant program improvements announced today. From surveying program participants, providing input during the listening sessions, and serving on the Workgroup, the support and contributions of the CSFP community were invaluable to this process.
Special thanks to the leadership of NCSFPA for their support, and our dedicated CSFP Food Package Review Workgroup members (pictured above, in no particular order): Sandi Hersh, Colorado; Jenny Keeley, Wisconsin; Kevin Peach, Kentucky; Carolyn Providence, New Jersey; Libby Salinas, Texas; James Scovel, Washington; Adriene Worthington, Massachusetts; Donald Farrell, FNS Mid-Atlantic Region; Samia Hamdan, FNS Midwest Region; John Hanna, FNS Southeast Region; Amy Schwartz, FNS Western Region; Lauren King-Dillon, FNS Headquarters; Christina Riley, FNS Headquarters; Carolyn Smalkowski, FNS Headquarters; Akua White, FNS Headquarters.
CSFP Food Package Webinars
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Do you want to learn more about the upcoming changes to the CSFP Food Package? Join us for our next webinar, CSFP Food Package: What is Changing and Why, on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This webinar will provide an overview of the changes to the food package, the process that USDA went through to collect stakeholder input, and the resources that will be available to support successful implementation. This is the first of a series of webinars that will help CSFP state and local agencies prepare to implement the food package changes and will provide attendees an opportunity to ask questions. Register now!
Additional CSFP Food Package webinars are coming soon! Stay up to date with the latest CSFP webinars by signing up for our webinar list. Visit the subscriber preferences page and select the “Webinars – CSFP” topic to receive information about future events.
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New CSFP Food Package Toolkit
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