MONTEREY, CA - From the power and importance of distribution to potential partnerships and undiscovered solutions, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) veteran recently joined the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Foodservice Conference for the first time as an expert and a student of potential growth for our industry.

“I have been with the USDA for about 30 years. I did not have a background in food and nutrition—I kind of stumbled into this job, as people do, and learned that USDA ran the nutrition assistance programs. The mission is about supporting kids and families with good nutrition and making sure that everybody has access to food. If that doesn't get you out of bed in the morning, it's hard to imagine what would,” Cindy Long, Deputy Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, tells me.

As we discuss the wild world that is produce, and the collaboration of events like IFPA’s Foodservice conference, Cindy tells me how she is always struck in particular by the importance of understanding the supply chain and the significant role of distribution.

“Schools—obviously—are everywhere across the country. They're in places that are easy to get to, in places really hard to get to, and everything in between. To get products from the producers to different players and listening about how to work with distributors has been a key takeaway for me,” she observes. “There's so much going on behind these programs to seek solutions in these areas. There's incredible dynamism going on, and so much more opportunity.”

IFPA invited the Deputy Under Secretary to experience the Monterey event, and particularly the conference’s K-12 School Forum, given her role in overseeing all federal child nutrition programs, including school meals and the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

“It was an honor to host Cindy at this year’s conference, and to share the industry’s commitment to partnering with school menu planners to grow children’s produce consumption,” said Andrew Marshall, who leads IFPA’s engagement with this sector. “In prior years, we had shared details of our event with Cindy and members of her team, but having her join us in person, having her hear directly from the school leaders about the value they get from networking with school colleagues and produce suppliers, and then getting to explore the expo and see the variety of colorful produce and the possibilities for students, we know the event is one she will remember.”

In addition to participating in the K-12 program, Cindy also took the stage at IFPA’s general session focused on empowering women’s leadership in foodservice. There, she discussed her own leadership journey while connecting comments back to her current role and highlighting how the world of food and nutrition is both vast and fascinating. She shared how, ultimately, there is something interesting always occurring, even as the pillars of healthy eating have remained fairly steady.

“One important thing for people to understand is that so much dietary advice has stayed consistent: to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and to balance. Sometimes there is this perception that dietary guidance is always changing, but it's really changing around the margins. We’ve known what it takes to have a good diet for a long time. What is important is eating a good variety of foods, especially natural foods, and to ensure there is access to that food,” she observes to me.

It is in this latter step Cindy tells me the USDA is doing much to accomplish two distinct but very closely related goals. One is enhancing the nutritional support provided through USDA programs—recently with a particular focus on school meals and the WIC programs.

“We've revised nutrition requirements of the kinds of foods that are served in schools, as well as the kind of foods that are provided through the WIC program, both in which we have emphasized the importance of fruits and vegetables,” Cindy says.

The second is to strengthen and support regional and local supply chains. The USDA made hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to states specifically to buy local foods—much of which went to produce purchases—and support the development of infrastructure for the purposes of that food going into schools.

“It's really all about linking the goals of better nutrition and building stronger local and regional supply chains. IFPA’s Foodservice Conference aligned well, particularly with an emphasis on the events toward K–12 specifically, it is a great embodiment of what we're trying to do,” Cindy says.

I for one cannot wait to see what unfolds in the future from such minds meeting and further bridging gaps from our industry to the youngest generation of consumers.