Food_Safety_Traveling_Museum_RFI.docx

Food Safety Traveling Museum Exhibit

Background The mission of United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education’s (OPACE), is to effectively communicate about FSIS programs and activities with internal and external audiences. OPACE is also responsible for educating the public about safe food handling practices in order to help reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.

Foodborne illness is a serious public health threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximately 48 million cases of foodborne illness occur in the United States each year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. While food safety precautions are taken throughout the farm-to-table continuum, FSIS believes that consumer education focused on safe food handling and preparation practices can help reduce foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths.

OPACE uses a variety of methods to educate the public. The ultimate goal of all of FSIS’ consumer education efforts is to reduce the rates of foodborne illness nationally by promoting safe food handling practices. The public has a responsibility to handle products in a manner that will keep them safe and healthy. FSIS’ educational efforts aim to reduce foodborne illness from mishandling by helping consumers understand the four food safety steps – clean, separate, cook and chill. All of FSIS’ consumer food safety messaging communicates that the adoption of recommended food safe behaviors can have a direct impact on personal and community health outcomes.

As part of its ongoing consumer education efforts, the FSIS, will use the concept of the USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone (FSDZ) to design and develop a travelling museum exhibit that can be transported to children’s museums and science museums across the country.

Briefly, the current FSDZ is an interactive truck that highlights four simple steps to prevent foodborne illness: clean, separate, cook and chill. Inside the exhibit is an interactive multimedia walking tour that engages visitors and encourages them to wash their hands, avoid cross contaminations, use a food thermometer and refrigerate food as quickly as possible. The FSDZ can also be configured to host student groups of 25 or less, providing a classroom-style interactive food safety lesson. Over the past three years, like most federal agencies, FSIS has been asked to do more with less. Staffing, budgets and resources have decreased, while workload and job duties have increased. These changes have affected the way the FSDZ operates and how logistics are facilitated throughout the year.

By developing a new travelling museum exhibit, USDA will be able to reach and educate more consumers at a lower cost and with less manpower. This exhibit shall be modular so it can be exhibited at various children’s and science museums around the country. There are many different behaviors that consumers should be practicing while preparing food to minimize the risk of foodborne illness. Our consumer messaging simplifies and groups these behaviors into four categories - clean, separate, cook, and chill - but for each message there are a variety of behaviors consumers should consider. For example for clean, consumers need to wash hands before cooking and then again during meal preparation, to avoid cross-contamination. And some of the behaviors are very complex, e.g., there are five different steps to ensure proper handwashing. Upon entering the exhibit dedicated areas for each of the four categories should educate visitors on the way food can be handled for optimal safety. These areas should be in order from clean (1), to separate (2), to cook (3), to chill (4). Automated multimedia presentations, hands-on interaction and educational panels with a call-to-action, touch screens, interactive games, virtual reality or augmented reality, blue lights (to show germs on hands), wash station, digital thermometers, refrigerators and freezers are the types of tools that should be used to make material engaging and educational.

Objectives •The primary mission of the museum exhibit is to effectively communicate and educate the public about safe food handling practices in order to help reduce occurrences of foodborne illness nationally.

•This exhibit will be an intricate part FSIS’s consumer food safety outreach in support of Strategic Goal 1.2.3.

•Design, develop and fabricate a 2,500 square foot travelling museum exhibit that can be constructed and deconstructed easily and transported to different museums. The layout will be modular, and be able to fit a variety of different spaces.

•The funds will be used to develop an innovative, interactive walk-through exhibit designed for visitors at children’s museums and science museums that integrates existing videos, public service announcements and electronic resources. The funds will also be used to secure museum locations as well as transport the exhibit to these locations and set up and break down of the exhibit.

o Technological considerations:

· Automated stand-alone laser counter at entrance to exhibit.

· Track visitors via one-way laser beam counter.

· Sensor-triggered monitors or projected visuals connected to a central video control module.

· Video content will play at each monitor/projection screen.

· Stand – alone computer that interfaces with show controller modules

· Such a controller and computer will be used to make adjustments to the show on site, when necessary.

The Food Safety Traveling Museum Exhibit effort is planned to have a total period of performance of five years; with a Base Year plus four Option Years.

This is a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. This RFI IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION, OR A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. Nor is this RFI a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI is simply a request for information and it does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is NOT at this time seeking proposals, and will NOT accept unsolicited proposals. The Government will accept estimates on cost that will be used as information for planning purposes only.

Please be advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in a response to this RFI. Instead, all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

Information Sought USDA FSIS seeks information from companies who have experience to successfully design, fabricate, and provide quality assurance testing, transportation, setup, and break down of the exhibit. RFI responses must be sent via email to the FSIS Primary Point of Contact with a summary of not more than three past performance efforts consisting of not more than one page each.

The top of the page for each past performance effort must include the following information:

1) Name of the RFI responding contractor, complete address, and POC info;

2) Complete Past Performance Government contract number as either a prime or subcontractor, and the name of the Gov customer organization, with city & state;

3) Contract period of performance, as well as the total dollar value of the effort;

4) Type of contract award, i.e. GSA Schedule Task Order; or if other please describe. If GSA Schedule, please specify the SIN(s); and finally

5) A narrative description of the past performance effort, and discussion of how the effort may be similar in size and scope to the planned USDA FSIS Traveling Museum Exhibit effort.

The total number of RFI response pages may not exceed five letter sized (8.5” X 11”) pages using standard margins and font, or 5 MB in size. Information presented in excess of five pages or 5 MB will not be considered.

RFI Questions Any questions regarding this RFI must be submitted in writing via e-mail to the Primary Government Point of Contact (POC), Tracy Pope, Contracting Officer, tracy.pope@fsis.usda.gov Not Later Than (NLT) January 4, 2019. Responses to questions will be provided not later than January 9, 2019, 1:00 pm.

RFI Responses RFI Responses will be in Microsoft Word for Office 365 compatible format and are due NLT January 11, 2019, 1600 EST. RFI Responses are limited to a total of 5 letter sized pages or 5 MB in size and must be submitted via e-mail only to the Primary Government Point of Contact (POC): Tracy Pope, Contracting Officer, tracy.pope@fsis.usda.gov.

Meetings and Discussions USDA FSIS may, or may not, choose to meet with potential RFI responders.

image1.png