Procurement Scenarios Scenario One A school district wants to purchase apples for a special fall harvest week. The SFA estimates the cost of the apples

will be $200,000. The SFA assumes that, since the procurement is only for one product for one week, they can use

the informal procurement method. The SFA calls three suppliers on the phone for quotes and goes with the

vendor with the apple variety he likes best. Do you notice anything wrong with this situation?

Scenario Two A farmer that the school food service director normally purchases lettuce from shows up at the district’s central

kitchen with 100 pounds of lettuce that he is going to throw away and wants to give to the school district. What

should the director do?

Scenario Three An SFA issues a solicitation for canned applesauce and uses geographic preference when evaluating the bids. Do

you notice anything wrong with this situation? What other mechanisms could the SFA use to source local

applesauce?

Scenario Four A state agency defines local as from within the state and requires SFAs to use the state definition when using a

geographic preference. A district near the state border would rather get foods from a neighboring county than

from the other side of the state. What options does the district have? Scenario Five

An SFA wants to procure about 65,000 pounds of local carrots for one school for the whole year and estimates

that the product will cost about $100,000. What are the SFA’s options for procuring the carrots?

Scenario Six

An SFA works directly with a local grower to source fresh herbs. The value of the products is less than $1,000.

What are the SFA’s options for purchasing the herbs?

Scenario Seven

An SFA wants to purchase beef from a neighboring county, but the school district is not able to process raw

meat in their facilities. What are some options that the SFA could look into for purchasing local beef?

Scenario Eight

An SFA wants to serve plums as part of a “Harvest of the Month” program. The SFA issues a solicitation for

local plums and specifies that the product be delivered within 48 hours of harvest. Only one grower submits a

bid. What are the SFA’s options?

Scenario Nine

A school district is interested in purchasing grains grown in their state, but does not know where to start. How

can the district learn more about and connect with grain farmers in their region?

Scenario Ten

An SFA has worked with the same dairy in their state for over five years. The district loves the product, but the

contract will expire at the end of school year. What are some strategies the SFA might use to target the same

dairy or similar operations in the state?

Scenario Eleven

A school district is eager to begin sourcing local products, but does not have any scratch cooking facilities. How can

the district start serving local foods?

Scenario Twelve

It is springtime and a school food service director is at the farmers’ market shopping for her own family. She

sees that one of the farmers has an amazing deal on cherries, which her district will be serving for a “Harvest of

the Month” celebration in two weeks. She tries a sample and the cherries are delicious! How can the school

food service director purchase these cherries (or cherries that are at least as cheap and delicious) for the

harvest celebration? She will need about 1,000 lbs. of cherries, and her small purchase threshold is $50,000.

Answers

Scenario One Answer: The formal procurement method must be used for all procurements over the federal small purchase threshold

of $150,000. Additionally, the SFA made arbitrary decision regarding the apple variety. The SFA should outline all

specifications before soliciting bids.

Scenario Two Answer: Federal procurement regulations do not come into play with donated foods, however donated foods must

conform to the same food safety standards as purchased products. The school should ask about the freshness, shelf life

and refrigeration before accepting the product. The SFA should also be sure to record the amount of donated food in its

accounts to ensure transparency and avoid any possible accusations of impropriety.

Scenario Three Answer: Applesauce is considered a processed product and therefore cannot be procured using geographic preference

(which is restricted to unprocessed products as defined in the final geographic preference rule). The SFA could use

geographic preference to purchase whole, fresh apples and procure the services of a processor to make applesauce. The

SFA could include technical requirements or product specifications that target applesauce made with local apples.

Scenario Four Answer: The decision regarding how to define local rests with the SFA, regardless of any other definitions in

use within the state. In this scenario, the state agency may not mandate the use of any definitions for local,

even if a specific state definition had been enacted by state legislation.

Scenario Five Answer: Depending on the applicable small purchase threshold, the SFA could use any of the procurement

methods, informal or formal. The SFA may choose to use the informal method if it knows of three producers of

local carrots. The SFA could simply call these producers for quotes and award to the lowest, responsive and

responsible bidder. Alternatively, the SFA may choose to use technical requirements, product specifications or

evaluation criteria to target the local carrots. Since the product is unprocessed, the SFA may also choose to use

geographic preference.

Scenario Six Answer: No matter how small the purchase is all purchases made with funds from the non‐profit food service

account are subject to Federal procurement regulations. The SFA may choose to use any procurement method,

but with a purchase this small, the informal method may be the most practical. The SFA can gather quotes

from all local suppliers or perhaps the local grower along with a distributor. If using the informal method, the

SFA should award to the lowest price, responsive and responsible vendor. The SFA may also choose to use

geographic preference.

Scenario Seven Answer: The SFA could purchase the beef and then procure the services of a processor. Alternatively, the SFA

could solicit bids for the finished beef product it needs and include technical requirements or product

specifications that target a processor that uses local suppliers. For example, the SFA may require that each case

of ground beef be labeled with the farm of origin.

Scenario Eight Answer: The key is understanding why only one bid was received. Was the solicitation too restrictive? If so, it

should be rewritten and reissued. However, if the district has done their due diligence in determining there

should have been adequate competition and actively attempted to solicit multiple bids, the district may award

a contract to a sole bidder. In cases where the award is made to a sole bidder, the process must be documented.

Scenario Nine Answer: The district might begin by connecting with their state department of agriculture and asking about

grain producers. By using the USDA Farm to School Census, the SFA may be able to find nearby districts that

are sourcing grains. In addition, the SFA may want to explore on‐line matchmaker sites like marketmaker.

Scenario Ten Answer: The point of competition is to allow any eligible vendor the ability compete. The SFA should write its

solicitation and specifications as it would normally, possibly including product specifications, technical

requirements or geographic preference that target local producers, but the SFA cannot include requirements

that favor one particular dairy.

Scenario Eleven Answer: One of the easiest ways districts start sourcing local foods is by buying fresh, whole fruit that needs

little preparation. Milk is often local due to the perishable nature and high shipping costs. Additionally,

distributors may carry ready to serve local items like bagged lettuce and cut fruit and vegetables. Additionally,

local products are not always fresh or unprocessed. The school should work with their suppliers to find out if

any of the products they are already receiving are local.

Scenario Twelve Answer: The school district has several options. If the purchase falls under the applicable small purchase

threshold, the district can gather quotes from several local cherry growers and award a contract to the lowest,

responsive and responsible bidder. The district may also choose to use a formal procurement method and use

some product specifications or technical requirements that target local cherries. For example, the district may

specify that the cherries be delivered within 48 hours of harvest, as long as this does not restrict competition.

The school could also use an RFP and include evaluation factors such as ability to list the farm of origin or

provide farm field trips. In any of these options, the district could also use geographic preference.