USDA Buys Wild Blueberries

WASHINGTON - Sep 17/02 - SNS -- The USDA plans to buy up to 10 million pounds of wild blueberries for donation to schools, neighborhood shelters and other institutions.

"This purchase will provide recipients of our federal food programs with good, nutritious and quality fruit," said Bill Hawks, under secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Wild blueberries are an excellent source of an antioxidant that has been shown in scientific tests to help fight cancer, heart disease, short-term memory loss and other effects of aging. Because the crop is abundant this year, USDA is taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase and share this product with schools and other domestic food agencies.

USDA purchased 13.8 million pounds of wild blueberries in fiscal year 2001. Few other federal purchases of wild blueberries have been made in prior years.

In fiscal year 2001, AMS purchased 1.7 billion pounds of food worth over $1 billion for federal feeding programs, including 192 million pounds of beef, pork, lamb and fish; 229 million pounds of eggs, chicken and other poultry products; and 1.3 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables.

With this announcement of USDA's intention to buy, 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.

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