How much does the USDA really buy?

There has been confusion about USDA fruit and vegetable purchases. How much f/v is purchased with Section 32 funds? How much is purchased with other agency money? How much good is Congress doing by upping the mandated levels of f/v purchases by Section 32 funds?

Here is a link to a spreadsheet sent to me by the USDA AMS spokesman Jimmie Turner about fruit and vegetable purchases at the agency during the past three years. As you can see, Section 32 purchases of fruits and vegetables for the past three years were $353 million in fiscal year 2004, $299 million in fiscal year 2005 and $246 million in fiscal year 2006.

Total (all forms) fruit and vegetable purchases for all USDA programs were rated at $497 in fiscal year 2004, $431 million in fiscal year 2005 and then $391 million in fiscal year 2006.

TK: This data warrants further review. Particularly, I would like to breakout the percentage of these dollars spent on fresh produce. It's not that big, I can tell you right now.