Do you know where your food comes from? If you can pinpoint where your food was grown and produced, you can make more informed decisions to maximize quality, freshness, and nutritional value. You can also help support local economies through your purchases. The USDA Foods program takes this mantra to heart and publishes state of origin reports with procurement information on all USDA Foods every year. As we like to say at FNS, “All USDA Foods are local to someone.”
USDA Foods are 100 percent American grown and produced. Each year, USDA procures more than 200 types of food, including meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, flour, cereals, and dairy products, totaling approximately $2 billion. Organizations such as food banks, disaster and emergency feeding organizations, Indian Tribal Organizations, schools, and other feeding groups receive these USDA Foods for use in meal service or distribution to households through programs like the National School Lunch Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
A recent report on the state of origin of USDA Foods found that USDA Foods procures food from more than three-quarters of all states. California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois are the five states with the highest dollar amounts of USDA Foods purchases. A number of items available through USDA Foods are sourced solely from one state. For example, 100 percent of the strawberries purchased by USDA Foods in FY2014 came from the state of California. During this time, California schools received approximately 3.3 million pounds of this locally produced product through the USDA Foods program. All of the wild blueberries came from Maine and all the catfish were purchased from Mississippi.
States and schools can use this sourcing information and other purchasing trends available on our website to tailor their USDA Foods purchases accordingly, or they can simply purchase with confidence, knowing that all USDA Foods purchases help strengthen the American economy by supporting a local community somewhere across the country.
Write a Response
Comments
I would like to know , what foods and which companies, outsource food processing and to which countries..and what foods.
I'm terribly concerned that products served in schools as peanut free are labeled that they were made in a facility that processes peanuts or tree nuts. I had a very severe reaction to a product that wasn't labeled correctly. Please tell me that the USDA requires products going to schools to carry the made in a facility that processes peanuts or tree nuts.
I don't want food from some countries how do I find out if my food is made process in Usa
@Charlene Speight Conacher - USDA Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requires food retailers (supermarkets and grocery stores) to notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products covered by the law include meats: lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. More information is available on the AMS website.
Where do I find out where my Walmart brand cookies are made. Package says “distributed by Walmart” doesn’t tell where they were made.
How can I tell if meat has been sent from U.S. to China for processing/packaging and sent back to the States?
@Theresa Crew - thank you for your comment. Per statute, all USDA Foods are 100 percent domestically grown and processed.
Our food comes from all areas of America
We went all our meat and food label from where they come from so we can make intelligent decisions on purchasing nutritious foods… I also would like to know why I can’t get Florida blueberries locally grown in my own state, I can get them in Ohio but not in Florida! In Florida my blueberries come from Argentina and Canada that cost a lot of shipping smWe went all our meat and foods labeled from where they come from so we can make intelligent decisions on purchasing nutritious foods… I also would like to know why I can’t get Florida blueberries locally grown in my own state, I can get them in Ohio but not in Florida! In Florida my blueberries come from Argentina and Canada that cost a lot of shipping smh
I do not want to buy anything made outside of the USA, especially fruits, meats and vegetables. Is there a way I can tell...
@Anne McFadden - USDA Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requires food retailers (supermarkets and grocery stores) to notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products covered by the law include meats: lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. More information is available on the AMS website.
If a food package has no information other than "manufactured for" how do I know if it is the U.S.?
@Mary Laddis - USDA Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requires food retailers (supermarkets and grocery stores) to notify their customers with information regarding the source of certain foods. Food products covered by the law include meats: lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. More information is available on the AMS website.
I prefer that all the food I purchase (meat included) be from the USA.
I would like to know what country the food comes from when I read the label. If the product is purchased from China yet packaged heat I would like to know by the bar code and written info on the can, box or package.
Safety standards , healthy foods , child labor laws, equal pay, better pay must be maintained for the betterment of everyone and the eco system.
I don’t want food from Asia in my food supply, I really want to know the food I buy is from the US but now its getting harder to determine this and ensure my food supply is safe
I don't have a Flicker account (and don't want to sign up for yet another account), so I can't see the larger map. :(
@staci lee - thank you for your comment. We have updated the Flickr link. You may view this at the following link: www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/27144694292/sizes/l/.
Link doesn't work.
report on the state of origin of USDA Foods
@Ben - thank you for your comment. We updated the link. Here is the link: https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-foods/state-origin-usda-foods