UNSPSC 50406602: Golden ball turnips

The variety of turnips known as golden ball turnips

UNSPSC 50406602 Golden ball turnips, a Commodity code, describes fresh turnips and turnip products that state and local governments procure primarily for school nutrition programs, child care facility meal service, and institutional food operations. Recent solicitations show school districts, county boards of education, and state departments of criminal justice sourcing turnips alongside broader fresh produce buys rather than as standalone line items; the code sits within a larger ecosystem of vegetable procurement where turnips compete for shelf space and kitchen preparation capacity alongside carrots, potatoes, onions, and leafy greens. Issuing bodies span school districts (Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin, Bulloch County and Bryan County Schools in Georgia, Northside Independent School District in Texas, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Georgia, and others), state agencies (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, State of Georgia), and child care networks (Head Start of Greater Dallas). School nutrition programs dominate the activity, driven by USDA reimbursable meal requirements and the National School Lunch Program, with contract terms typically running July through June to align with fiscal school years.

Geographic concentration is heaviest in Georgia and Texas, where recent solicitations from school districts in Bulloch, Bryan, Muscogee, Liberty, Dougherty, Glynn, Henry, and Savannah-Chatham Counties, plus state IFBs and TDCJ procurements, reflect sustained institutional produce demand. Texas shows secondary strength through TDCJ bulk vegetable buys for prison food service and school district RFPs in the San Antonio and Austin areas. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 for Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Snacks (due July 29, 2026), requiring approximately 5,900 servings weekly of USDA-compliant produce sourced within 400 miles and delivered ready-to-eat with farm traceability; Head Start of Greater Dallas's IFB 26-GP for approximately 32,409 cases of frozen and fresh produce under Child and Adult Care Food Program specs (due June 24, 2026, estimated value $969,460.94); and Bulloch County Schools' Invitation for Proposal for locally grown produce within 200 miles, including turnips and sweet potatoes, for the 2026-2027 school year (proposals due May 4, 2026). TDCJ has posted multiple bulk vegetable IFBs for potato and carrot canning operations; while turnips are not explicitly named in the sampled opportunities, the code shows no recent standalone turnip solicitations, suggesting the commodity trades as a secondary line item rather than a primary contract driver.