Buy American Provision

Buy American Provision

The Buy American Provision requires School Food Authorities (SFA’s) to purchase, to the maximum extent possible, domestic commodities or products. This provision supports the mission of the Child Nutrition Programs (CNP), which is to serve children nutritious meals in schools and support American Agriculture.

The Buy American Provision also supports SFA’s working with local, or small, minority, and women owned businesses. SFA’s are encouraged to purchase food products from local and regional sources when expanding farm to school efforts.

SFA’s must comply with this standard when purchasing commercial food products served in school meal programs. The Buy American Provision language must be included in procurement procedures, solicitations and contracts, and SFA’s must track non-domestic products.

Example Solicitation and Contract Language

ABC School District participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) and is required to use the nonprofit food service funds, to the maximum extent practicable, to buy domestic commodities or products for Program meals. A ‘domestic commodity or product’ is defined as one that is either produced in the U.S. or is processed in the U.S. substantially using agricultural commodities that are produced in the U.S. as provided in 7 CFR 210.21(d).

Exceptions to the Buy American Provision

Limited exceptions to the Buy American Provision allow for the purchase of products not meeting the “domestic” standard. These exceptions include:

1. The product is listed on the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) Non-available articles list found at 48 CFR 25.104 and/or is not produced or manufactured in the US in sufficient and reasonably available quantities of satisfactory quality; or
2. Competitive bids reveal the costs of a U.S. product are significantly higher than the non-domestic product.

Beginning July 1, 2025, a threshold that limits the percent of total commercial food cost from non-domestic foods will go into effect. The phased-in approach will allow SFA’s to adjust to these limits over a 7-year time span.

• SY 2025-26 – the non-domestic food purchase cap will be 10 percent
• SY 2028-29 – the non-domestic food purchase cap will be 8 percent
• SY 2031-32 – the non-domestic food purchase cap will be 5 percent

  The items listed on the FAR Non-available articles list must be counted toward the cap on the non-domestic purchases when it goes into effect.

  Tracking

  It is each SFA’s responsibility to ensure USDA dollars are spent on American gown products. SFA’s are required to maintain documentation to justify the use of non-domestic exceptions. Items listed on the FAR Non-available articles list are exempt from the documentation requirement.

  The following templates are available to assist SFA’s with tracking non-domestic exceptions.

  MDE Buy American Justification Form

  UDSA Buy American Exceptions Tracker

  The USDA has created an optional template used to track both the non-domestic exceptions, and the costs related to non-domestic product purchases.

  All documentation must be retained by the SFA and will be reviewed by MDE during compliance reviews.

  USDA Foods

  SFA’s are encouraged to maximize their use of USDA Foods, which comply with the Buy American Provision requirements. However, processed end products that contain USDA Foods need to meet the minimum requirement of 51 percent domestic, buy weight or volume.

  Geographic Preference

  The USDA Expanded Geographic Preference Option helps to ease challenges for Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) related to buying local products. CNP operators may now use “locally grown”, “locally raised”, or “locally caught” as a specification for local unprocessed agricultural products. CNP operators can also apply a geographic preference through additional points or credit during an evaluation for local unprocessed agricultural products. More information about the Expanded Geographic Preference Option can be found in USDA Memo SP 22-2024, CACFP 08-2024, SFSP 13-2024:

  Geographic Preference Expansion Related to the Final Rule titled, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans