USDA nutrition official to visit Minn.

A top federal nutrition official will visit Minnesota this week.

The official, Kevin Concannon, is the undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His agency oversees both the National School Lunch Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.

Concannon will be in the Twin Cities on Monday and Tuesday and will participate in a roundtable discussion about school food along with U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

After the Monday afternoon roundtable, which will be held at the University of Minnesota, he will deliver a public lecture titled, "Today's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Programs: Reducing the Effect of Poverty for Low-income Families and Promoting Healthy Eating for all Americans."

On Tuesday, he plans to visit the St. Paul Public Schools, where he will eat with students and see the district's farm-to-school program. Later in the day, he will tour a food shelf run by St. Paul's Neighborhood House.

Currently, more than 530,000 Minnesotans receive food stamps. More than a third of public school students are enrolled in free or reduced-price lunch.