A lawmaker has introduced a bill in Congress that would increase the reimbursement rate for school lunches. The Level Up Nutrition for Children in Every School (LUNCHES) Act would increase the reimbursement rate to 59.5 cents per meal.
Earlier this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised the reimbursement rate to provide schools with an additional 25 cents per lunch to help combat rising food costs. Click here to read the full article.
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A restaurant sales downturn that began in December continued into January. The industry posted negative sales growth for the first month since February of 2021. Sales growth was –0.9% in January, a drop of 2.9 percentage points compared to the December growth rate. Despite the disappointing results, the industry is better positioned from a sales perspective compared to over a year ago. Click here to read the full article from Nation's Restaurant News.
Global food prices were already near a 10-year high. Now, the Russia-Ukraine conflict could make matters worse. Russia is the world's top exporter of wheat, while Ukraine is a significant exporter of both wheat and corn. They also export vegetable oils. Read the full article here.
Potato sales continue to perform well at retail compared with pre-pandemic conditions, says Kayla Dome, global marketing manager for retail at Potatoes USA.
“If we are looking at over the last five years, (potato sales) are still higher than they were prior to the pandemic,” she said. Read the full article from the Packer here. January marked the second month in a row that restaurant sales dropped from the previous month. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, total eating and drinking place sales were $72 billion in January, down from $72.5 billion in December and the November peak of $73.1 billion. Read the full article here.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced today that its avocado inspection program in Michoacan, Mexico has restarted and avocado exports to the United States have resumed. Read the full story here.
Avian Influenza has been detected in the US - Sparboe will keep you informed on this dynamic situation. For the last several weeks, HPAI has been detected in wild birds throughout the Atlantic Flyway. On Tuesday February 8th, the USDA confirmed a case of High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. This is the first confirmed case in a commercial flock in the US since 2020. On Monday February 14th, a commercial broiler chicken flock in Kentucky was also confirmed to have HPAI.
Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat. The surprise, temporary suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers — though it would not affect game-day consumption since those avocados had already been shipped. Click here to read more from AP News.
Indiana reported an additional case of avian influenza Tuesday night, half a mile from the initial case reported February 8. Another commercial turkey operation tested positive during the state’s routine quarantine procedures enacted because of the February 8 case. Read the full story from Successful Farming here.
A specific species of wild duck may pose the greatest risk of the spread of avian influenza among U.S. birds, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Agency scientists identified the migration patterns of the blue-winged teal, one of 11 dabbling duck species known to breed in North America and a common carrier of bird flu viruses, Diann Prosser of the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It is the first-ever study to examine the movements of a waterfowl species likely to carry the virus and their relative proximity to domestic poultry facilities. |
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