Opportunities to Sell Fruits and 

Vegetables to the USDA

Christopher Purdy

Associate Deputy Administrator

Commodity Procurement Program

Agricultural Marketing Service
AMS Commodity Procurement facilitates the marketing 

of 100% domestic agricultural products through the 

purchase of food for International and Domestic nutrition 

assistance programs...feeding the hungry in the U.S. 

and around the world.
Federal Procurement 

Program

Competitive bidding 

process using...

• Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)

• Agriculture Acquisition Regulations (AGAR)

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
What do we buy? 

Domestic Nutrition Programs International Nutrition Programs

Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Pears, etc.—Fresh and 

Processed

Dry Beans, Peas and Lentils

Vegetables—Fresh and Processed Oil Products

Dairy Wheat

Livestock Peanut Products

Poultry Grain Products

Fish Rice

Dry Beans, Peas and Lentils Bulgur

Peanut Products Corn Products

Rice 

More Fresh Produce than Ever
Who Do We Buy 

from?

• Vendors registered to do business with USDA

• About 100 new fruit and vegetable suppliers for Trade Mitigation and 

other purchases

• Roughly half of our contracts are awarded to small businesses:

• 500 employees or less

• Socially disadvantaged

• Women-owned

• Service-disabled veteran-owned

• HUB zones
How Can You 

Become A 

Registered Vendor?

Small and New Business Coordinators

Domestic

Andrea Lang

(202) 720-4237 or NewVendor@ams.usda.gov

International

Linda Steigerwald

(816) 926-6168

Linda.Steigerwald@usda.gov

Visit Our Website:

www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food
Ongoing 

Purchases

• Entitlement/Meal Package/Program Purchases

• Largely based on nutrition program recipient demand

• Procurement agent for USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, 

U.S. Agency for International Development, USDA’s Foreign 

Agricultural Service and the Nutrition and Food Aid Programs 

they administer

• Volume relatively consistent year-to-year
Special Purchases

Domestic

Section 32—Ongoing—$740 million in FY20

• Clause 2 of Section 32 of the Act of August 24,1935: “encourage the 

domestic consumption”

• AMS analyzes market conditions and recipient needs – “good product 

at a good price”

• Typically distributed to Food Banks

Trade Mitigation—Complete—Approx. $2.4 billion in FY19 & FY20

Coronavirus Relief/USDA Farmers to Families Food Box
Farmers to 

Families Food 

Box Program

• Addressed an urgent need created by the pandemic

• Surplus of products typically consumed in restaurants, schools, 

and other foodservice outlets

• Market support focus

• Developed and implemented very quickly

• Available products – fresh produce, dairy, chicken, pork, fluid milk 

(few constraints)

• Commercial distribution

• Any non-profit organization
USDA Farmers to 

Families Food 

Box Program

• Planned for roughly $300 m per month, response was overwhelming

• Over 150,000 million boxes delivered (product impacted by market 

disruptions)

* Produce * Meat * Dairy * Combination 

• Rapid Development and Ramp-up—One-month design to start-up

• Through a number of contract phases, $4 billion awarded to about 

250 companies and non-profits • Truck to trunk model
Farmers to 

Families Food 

Box Program

Shift in Focus

• As program progressed focus shifted from market support to food 

insecure population needs

• Individual boxes to combination boxes

• Shift to lowest cost bids

• Some areas underserved

Food Box Future

• 12 hours of listening sessions and written recommendations

• Feedback being compiled now

• Announcements pending
Thank you! Questions?

Christopher Purdy

Associate Deputy Administrator

(202) 720-3209

christopher.purdy@usda.gov