First Florida Farm To School Bid Set
August 10, 2012 
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has announced its first procurement of fresh produce to be served in Florida’s schools. The bid marks the initiation of Commissioner Adam Putnam’s effort to move the school lunch program under auspices of the Ag Department.
“Our goal from the very beginning was to increase the nutritional value of school meals by directing more of Florida’s fresh fruits and vegetables to school cafeterias,” says Putnam. “With the school nutrition program under the Department’s purview, we hope to help the fight against childhood obesity and its long-term complications by developing eating habits that include more of what we grow here in Florida.”
The purpose of this invitation to bid is to establish maximum pricing for the fresh produce to be procured by the current distributors of individual participating school districts for use in child nutrition foodservice programs throughout Florida through Dec. 31, 2012.
The bidding process is based upon Florida’s harvest timeline and will solicit grower bids during five different seasons. The first procurement will include 13 fresh produce items. The bid will be opened at 2:00 p.m., Aug. 31, 2012 at the following address:
407 S. Calhoun Street
SB-8 Mayo Building
Tallahassee FL, 32399
To access the bid document, click here.
Growers with specific questions about the procurement should contact Christie Hutchinson at 850-617-7181 or [email protected].