WOODBURY, N.Y. — E S Foods was recently awarded a portion of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which will allow the company to provide boxes of premium quality poultry products to food banks and school districts int the Southwest and Western Regions of the country.
“We are proud and honored to be part of this program that is a win-win for all involved – our plants, their personnel, our suppliers and farmers, and most importantly, the recipients,” says Jeff Rowe, President, E S Foods. “As a provider of meals and food items to nonprofits and schools across the country, we know how great the need is at this critical time.”
Earlier this month the USDA approved $1.2 billion in contracts to support American producers and communities through this new, innovative approach linking farmers to families. Suppliers package these products into family-sized boxes, then transport them to food banks, community and faith-based organizations, and other nonprofits serving Americans in need.
E S Foods is just one of numerous companies awarded multi-million-dollar contracts by the USDA to produce food boxes for distribution to those in need. Deliveries started this past week. “Every food bank and school district that we have been in communication with has been extremely positive about the products and process,” says Rowe.
Among the organizations receiving food boxes from E S Foods is California’s Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD); Osborn School District in Phoenix, Arizona; the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas; the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank; the Coastal Harvest Food Bank Distribution Center in Hoquiam, Washington; and the San Antonio and Tarrant Area Food Banks in Texas.
“I know our school nutrition staff at the curbside will be thrilled to hand out these boxes of versatile, ready-to-use chicken strips for the families picking up meals for their children from one of our 29 curbside meal locations,” says Louisa R. Kates, M.Ag., RDN, Director of School Nutrition Services for North East ISD in San Antonio, Texas. The district received nearly 4,000 cases of the fully cooked, frozen chicken that they will begin distributing on June 8. “The USDA Farmers to Families program will be very beneficial to the families in our community.”
The Coastal Harvest Food Bank Distribution Center in Hoquiam, Washington is currently distributing its nearly 4,000 cases of food boxes to all of their feeding programs in the tri-county area. “Having already been assembled in a box, they are easy to hand out and complement shelf stable food boxes distributed,” says Brent Hunter, Executive Director of Coastal Harvest. “The high-quality chicken boxes also provide a great protein option to send home with students and families within the school districts we are helping, many of which suffer from food insecurity.”
LAUSD is a great example of the immense benefit that the Farmers to Families Program provides because they can now continue to feed entire families, not just the students. LAUSD is the second-largest school district in the nation which typically provides over 700,000 meals per day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, about 420,000 meals are being distributed of which 73% are to students and 27% to adults. Now more families will be served.
“The food boxes we’re providing include 10-14 pounds of premium quality pre-cooked poultry items such as grilled chicken strips, chicken taco filling and chicken nuggets – each box containing enough to feed a family for a week or more,” explains Amy Josephson, Vice President of Marketing for E S Foods. “This program is going to make a significant impact on the lives of millions.”
Additional information on the Farmers to Families Food Box Program is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service website at https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box.
A leader in school foodservice for over twenty years, E S Foods today serves all foodservice channels with over 100 products that comprise their product categories of shelf-stable, frozen entrees, heat & serve, smart snacks and protein innovations. For more information, visit www.esfoods.com.
