III. Findings Challenges in School Food Procurement Top Challenges When asked the top challenge faced in school food procurement as a free-response question, the top four categories of answers were:
• High prices and budget constraints (26%), • Supply chain and availability issues (17%), • Administrative and regulatory burden (14%), and • Insufficient vendors and bids (10%).
Other relevant concerns included not meeting delivery minimums or timing (sometimes due to having insufficient warehousing space to store deliveries); having limited purchasing options available for necessary items; a challenging purchasing process; receiving poor quality foods from vendors; and needed items being out-of-stock. Respondents from small and rural districts frequently named challenges related to supply chain and availability, insufficient vendors and bids, and delivery issues (See Figure 1. Challenges Named by Respondents). A school business official from the Mountain Plains region shared, “With the continuing increase in food costs, our entitlement funds and reimbursement are not enough to balance our entire plate cost.” A school nutrition director from the Southwest region shared a sense of overwhelm (emphasis theirs), “[W]e are a small district and all aspects of procurement are put on my plate which is already overflowing. It takes up so much time...But making sure every little statement or paragraph being included is way too much. I just want to be able to do my job and feed our students and not have to put so much emphasis on purchasing.” Finally, a kitchen manager from the Western region shared their experience with supply chain and vendor challenges for rural districts: “We only receive one order per week. If the supplier can’t receive their order from the valley because the roads are closed, we have to wait another week which affects our menu.” While the survey focused on specific challenges within school food procurement operations, it’s striking that so many respondents named external pressures, such as volatile prices and supply chain instability. This finding mirrors USDA’s prior research on supply chain challenges, 8 suggesting that before being able to discuss advanced procurement reform ideas, SFAs face more critical needs – not having sufficient budget to purchase food for their students and the unavailability of key items.
10 Procuring Good Food at School: From Contracts to Lunch Trays |
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