The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking bidders to supply Greek yogurt for the National School Lunch Program in New York and three other states as a pilot program for the 2013-14 school year.
Schools in Arizona, Idaho and Tennessee will also participate in the experiment, which is open to Greek yogurt suppliers anywhere in the country.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. announced in January he successfully petitioned the USDA to experiment with the use of Greek — or strained — yogurt, which has more protein than the regular yogurt that’s already in use by schools.
The USDA is asking vendors to bid on supplying 4-ounce and 32-ounce containers.
Two of the four states — New York and Idaho — are major producers of Greek yogurt.
According to Schumer, if the pilot program is cost effective, it could be expanded nationwide.