The Relevance of
Food Biosecurity to
USDA Nutrition Assistance
Programs
Food Safety Unit
Food and Nutrition Service
The break-out session….
Background
FNS program sites
– Risks
– Preventive strategies
Action steps
– Identify your part
– Tools and Resources
Why Are We Concerned?
No specific information that attack on
food supply is imminent
Intelligence reports that terrorists
considered components of food sector
Manuals for intentional contamination
of food are widely available
Soft targets like food supply are a
concern
Is there a problem?
“For the life of me, I cannot
understand why the terrorists
have not attacked our food supply
because it is so easy to do.”
Secretary Tommy Thompson - press conference
announcing his resignation, December 2004.
What could happen?
Severity of attack depends on:
– Agent
– Attack scenario
– Effectiveness of detection and response
Biological or chemical weapons against food
supply could cause mass casualties
Ineffective attack could cause significant
economic and psychological damage
States take it seriously…
Wisconsin
– School food biosecurity plan under
development
– http://dpi.wi.gov/fns/foodsafety.html
Iowa
– School officials are taking steps
– New Center for Agriculture Security in the
Iowa Dept. of Agric. & Land Stewardship
Select FNS program data
The National School Lunch Program:
Almost 100,000 public and non-profit
private schools participate
Over 8 million breakfasts, and 28 million
lunches served daily to children (2003)
On an average school day, 1 out of every 2
students participates in the NSLP
Volume of Commodities
Used in the NSLP
NSLP in 2004:
– $770 million
– 1.1 billion pounds
20% provided by USDA
80% purchased commercially
Protections afforded by AMS only go
so far
Who Handles
Commodities?
State Distributing Agencies
– State Warehouses
Local Recipients
– Public and private schools
Central Kitchens
– Warehouses
– Food Banks
Warehouses Receive
Commodities
Warehouses
– About 150 state ware