The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to buy as much as $2.7 million worth of fresh tomatoes for federal nutrition assistance programs, according to a news release.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service purchases a variety of high-quality food products each year to support the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian reservations, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program, the release said.

Commodities must be produced in the U.S., meet specified grade requirements and be USDA-certified, the release said.

For more information, interested suppliers should contact the contracting officer, who can be reached through the AMS Web page at www.ams.usda.gov.

E-mail Tom Burfield