Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase up to 39.1 million pounds of fruit and vegetables for donation to schools, neighborhood shelters for needy families and other food aid institutions.

"An important message in President Bush’s Healthier US initiative, which encourages Americans to eat healthy and incorporate physical activity into their lifestyles, is to consume plenty of fruits and vegetables," said Veneman. "This purchase will increase the opportunity for recipients to incorporate these foods into their diets."

The planned purchases include 3.6 million pounds of fresh Red Apples and Golden Delicious Apples, 28.5 million pounds of canned and frozen apricots and 7 million pounds of canned and frozen asparagus.

"Because these crops are abundant this year, USDA is taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase and share these products with domestic food distribution agencies," said Bill Hawks, under secretary for USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs.

Today’s announcement will be in addition to the 5.1 million pounds of fresh apples and

1 million pounds of canned apricots that USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has already purchased for a total of $2.2 million in fiscal year 2003.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service purchases a variety of high-quality food products every year for distribution by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, the Nutrition Program for the Elderly, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program. USDA also makes emergency purchases of commodities for distribution to victims of natural disasters.

In fiscal year 2002 USDA purchased 17.2 million pounds of canned and frozen apricot products worth $9.6 million, as well as 6.1 million pounds of canned and frozen asparagus worth $5 million; USDA did not purchase fresh apples in fiscal year 2002. In fiscal year 2001, with special emergency funds supplied by Congress, USDA purchased a total of 38.4 million pounds of fresh apples worth over $11 million for federal feeding programs, along with 27.5 million pounds of canned and frozen apricots worth $15.7 million, and 1.7 million pounds of canned and frozen asparagus worth $1.3 million.