Guide to Purchasing Washington-Grown Food

       A School's Guide to Purchasing Washington-Grown Food
Using Geographic Preference to Strengthen Farm to School

The full text of the procurement guide is available for download below by chapter. 

**Notable Updates Since Guide Publication**

USDA expanded the geographic preference option beginning July 1, 2024. Child Nutrition Program operators may use local as a specification and continue to set a geographic preference when soliciting or buying unprocessed agricultural products. See the USDA Geographic Preference Option Questions & Answers for more information.

A Micropurchase threshold was introduced by USDA in early 2015.  If a purchase is valued under $10,000, school districts can purchase products under this threshold without obtaining multiple bids or quotes.  This offers additional flexiblity for small purchases and can be very useful for direct purchases from farms and for seasonal specialty items. (Previously, as you will see in the guide, USDA required competitive price quotes or bids for ALL purchases, no matter how small.)

As you work through the guide, please feel free to contact us with questions, feedback, or requests for assistance in implementing a geographic preference for more local food purchasing in your district. 

WSDA will continue to supplement the resources and tools to assist districts in putting this guidance into practice.  Updates will posted on this page and will also be sent out via the farm to school connections listserv, which you can join on the Home page of this website.

Contact: 
Annette Slonim, WSDA Farm to School
aslonim@agr.wa.gov