In the COVID-19 crisis, your business will experience unexpected challenges. Land O’Lakes is here to assist your pivot to takeout and delivery so together, in these critical times, we can continue to meet the dietary needs of the general public. Find out more at our COVID-19 Resource Page.

Reduce Labor with Speed-Scratch Solutions

Customers want to know what is being done to protect food and the employees.¹

Speed-Scratch Solutions

Takeout Inspiration

Click pictures for links to recipes. Contact your IPAP Account Manager for more information.

1. IFMA “Coronavirus Impact on the Foodservice Industry” 03/17/20

2. Datassential MenuTrends “Farro” Mar. 2020

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is keeping busy with the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

The $3 billion Farmers to Families initiative launched in mid-May to offer financial support to ag producers and food service distributors during the coronavirus pandemic. The program has distributed 78 million food boxes of meat, dairy and produce to food banks and non-profit organizations.

The Dairy Market Analyst reported USDA intended to scale back its purchases by as much as 60% in September, but those plans appear to have changed. With the second round of food box distributions concluded on Aug. 31, USDA announced an additional $1 billion in funding for the program.

USDA’s third round of food box distributions begins Sept. 1 and will wrap up by Oct. 31. This time around USDA will put more emphasis on seeking out combination boxes and requiring distributors to illustrate “how coverage will be provided to areas identified as Opportunity Zones … and address the ‘last mile’ delivery of product into the hands of the food insecure population.”

The Farmers to Families Food Box Program was conceived as a temporary solution to keep farms in business. The government purchases have been credited with keeping milk and cheese prices higher. The initiative creates a new market for farmers and ranchers by contracting with distributors to purchase the product. (In a stronger economy, farmers would sell their goods to restaurants and bulk purchasers.) The contracted distributors pack the product into boxes and deliver to communities in need.

On a final note, USDA extended the deadline to apply for direct aid through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to Sept. 11. USDA added about 60 classifications to its list of commodities eligible for CFAP payments, including bananas, horseradish, maple sap, pumpkins and 13 types of fish. Farmers and ranchers can apply for the CFAP here.

Following surging milk sales during the pandemic, the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) revived the iconic “Got Milk?” ad campaign after a six-year hiatus. MilkPEP traded the celebrity milk mustaches for user-generated videos showing “unexpected ways America enjoys milk,” including stunts. To mark the resurrection of “Got Milk?”, IPAP’s August quiz centers around this famous slogan. Answers appear below the Dairy Dive.

1. In 1993, the debut “Got Milk?” television commercial featured a man grappling with a mouthful of peanut butter (and no milk to wash it down) while struggling to do what?

A) Sing an aria at Carnegie Hall

B) Blow out his burning birthday cake

C) Answer a $10,000 trivia question

A) “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

B) Broadway’s “Hamilton”

C) “The Walking Dead”

A) Throwing discus

B) Swimming a lap

C) Skeet shooting

A) A fishing rod

B) His toes

C) A lasso

A) Bart and Lisa Simpson

B) SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star

C) Elsa and Olaf

• Orwell’s nightmare? Facial recognition for animals promises a farmyard revolution. (The Washington Post)
• New ad reveals grim reality for independent restaurants, bars (ABC News)
• You’ve ‘got milk.’ Whether it’s good for you depends on your age, health and sex, studies say (CNN)
• Fewer Wisconsin Farms Filed For Bankruptcy During the Height Of The Pandemic (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• As US milk sales rise amid pandemic, “Got milk?” ads return (The Associated Press)
• Cheese, yogurt, ice cream: Iowa’s dairy goat industry churns its way to national ranking (Des Moines Business Record)
• As the Texas restaurant industry struggles, so do farmers, truckers and others in the food supply chain (The Texas Tribune)
• Milk Run: An Innovative Online Grocer, Helping Farmers, Is Expanding (Forbes)
• Restaurants and diners embrace the once-scorned QR code as they accept the new no-touch reality (Business Insider)
• Can the world’s oldest restaurant escape the pandemic’s grasp? (CNN)
• Wisconsin Restaurant Owners Facing Deep Uncertainty About Winter Business (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• How a Cheese Goes Extinct (The New Yorker)
• Any way you slice it, a cheesemonger’s profession is serious business (Daily Pilot)

C) Answer a $10,000 trivia question

B) Broadway’s “Hamilton”

B) Swimming a lap

B) His toes

C) Elsa and Olaf