United States General Accounting Office Report to Congressional Committees:Federally Donated Meat and Poultry: Information on Extent and Impact of States' Restrictions on Processors

摘要

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases and donateshundreds of millions of dollars' worth of agricultural commodities, including meat and poultry, to support various domestic food assistance programs. Over half of the donated agricultural commodities go to food assistance programs for children, the largest of which is the National School Lunch Porgram. Schools receive the donated meat and poultry in a finished product form, such as hamburger patties, whole turkeys, chicken nuggets, or bulk 'fine-ground' beef, and either use the product immediately to prepare lunches or store it for future use. At a later date, a state or school may decide to send some of the fine-ground beef to a commercial processor to further process it into products such as barbecue-flavored hamburgers or meatballs. The commercial processor, often located out of state, could receive similar orders to process donated meat from another state or school. To gain greater production efficiency, some large processors may combine federally donated meat or poultry received from multiple sources, a process known as batching. However, the contracts of some state agencies and/or local school food authorities restrict commercial processors from batching their products under certain conditions. Batching restrictions are almost never an issue for poultry, which is generally processed into a finished product before being sent to the schools.