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State‐wide availability of pulse crops in USDA Foods Program
Author(s) -
Waldrop Megan E.,
Rueda Janice M.W.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.843.1
Subject(s) - environmental health , business , agricultural science , agriculture , health benefits , geography , medicine , environmental science , archaeology , traditional medicine
Childhood obesity remains a critical public health concern, and school lunches provide a key entry point for more nutritious foods into the diets of school children. The USDA Foods Program is an important source of affordable American grown foods for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Pulse crops, which include dry beans, dry peas, lentils and chickpeas, are among the foods available as part of the USDA Foods program. The aim of this study was to describe the statewide availability of the 16 different pulse foods included in this program. Requests were e‐mailed to the NSLP coordinators in all 50 states, and a 94% response rate was achieved. Results show that not all states offer the complete selection of pulse crops available as part of the USDA Foods Program. Frequency of availability of each item was analyzed, and regional differences in availability were determined.