DALLAS – The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is committed to setting the standard for sustainability beyond just Earth Day. With multiple sustainability initiatives, the Exchange directly improves the quality of life in the military communities it serves.

“The Exchange is committed to providing a sustainable working and living environment for Soldiers, Airmen, Guardians and their families.” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Osby, the Exchange’s senior enlisted advisor. “The Exchange’s sustainability goals directly improve the quality of life in our military communities, ensuring a clean and safe future wherever Warfighters serve.”

The Exchange’s in-store and real estate sustainability initiatives include:

• Recycling more than 7,000 tons of plastic, aluminum and cardboard annually.
• Collaborating with Department of Defense to implement and maintain electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on CONUS installations, assisting with the conversion of federal fleet vehicles to EVs before 2030.
• Replacing 455,000 fluorescent lamps in more than 160,000 fixtures with efficient tubular LEDs or TLEDs at 610 CONUS facilities. This effort yielded a 56% reduction in consumption daily, more than 50 million kilowatt-hours annually and more than $2.4 million in cost savings annually.
• Installing efficient low-flow faucets in food courts during renovations and new construction, resulting in 30% in water savings annually.
• Designing and building stores to globally accepted standards such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards.
• Offering shoppers a 5-cent-per-bag credit for using reusable shopping bags, each of which can replace up to 250 single-use plastic bags throughout its lifespan.
• Reusing apparel hangers to minimize waste.

The Exchange partners with suppliers to offer more environmentally friendly products at PXs, BXs and ShopMyExchange.com, including:

• Sustainable apparel that includes recycled materials or uses less water in production from brands including Levi’s, Columbia, The North Face, Damsel Swim, O’Neill and Quiksilver.
• Eco-friendly, cruelty-free cosmetics and skincare products, including vegan and biodegradable options, from brands such as Almay, bareMinerals, Bravo Sierra, EcoTools and Farmacy.
• High-efficiency Energy Star products, which include 50% of all major appliances, 100% of televisions and 93% of computers.
• Energy-efficient LED lamps, bulbs and smart lighting.
• Laundry detergents for use with high-efficiency washing machines.
• Eco-friendly and biodegradable cleaning supplies from brands such as 9 Elements, Lysol, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, Seventh Generation and Symtek.

The Exchange’s global logistics operation, which includes nine distribution centers worldwide and the 13th-largest private retail fleet in the U.S, is also committed to reducing its environmental impact. Logistics sustainability efforts include:

• Recycling 280 gallons of oil, 1,100 tires and 300 batteries annually.
• Using self-inflating tire systems on trucks to increase miles per gallon.
• Installing trailer skirts and aluminum wheels to improve aerodynamics and reduce weight.
• Replacing aging trucks with new model units fitted with fuel-saving features such as automatic transmissions, adaptive cruise control and optimized idle.

These efforts not only reduce the Exchange’s environmental impact, but also save money and resources which are reinvested into military communities. In the last 10 years, more than $3.5 billion in earnings have been provided for critical military quality of life programs, aided directly by the Exchange’s ongoing sustainability efforts.

Social media-friendly version: The Exchange makes every day Earth Day with sustainability initiatives, setting the standard for exceptional environmental stewardship wherever service members go. Read more: https://wp.me/p9Q7PG-2nS

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Since 1895, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange) has gone where Soldiers, Airmen, Guardians and their families go to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 54^th-largest retailer in the United States. 100% of Exchange earnings support military communities. In the last 10 years, your Exchange benefit has provided $3.4 billion in earnings for critical military Quality-of-Life programs. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors. The Exchange is a 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemorative Partner, planning and conducting events and activities that recognize the service, valor and sacrifice of Vietnam Veterans and their families in conjunction with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our website at http://www.shopmyexchange.com or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ExchangePAO.

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NEWS RELEASE

Defense Commissary Agency

Corporate Communications

1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1800

Tel:  (804) 734-8000, Ext. 8-6105  DSN: 687-8000, Ext. 8-6105 

FAX: (804) 734-8248  DSN: 687-8248

www.commissaries.com

Release Number:        05-23                                                                                                                        

Date:                              January 19, 2023

Media Contact:           Kevin L. Robinson, public affairs specialist

Tel.:                               (804) 734-8000, Ext. 4-8773

E-mail:                         kevin.robinson@deca.mil

Fit for 2023

Your commissary offers nutritious choices, quick meal solutions, wellness resources to align with your fitness goals

By Kathy Milley,

DeCA public affairs specialist

Facebook-friendly version: Feeling like you’re up to your chin in sugar cookies and extravagant holiday feasts? Ready to climb out of the snack wagon? Well January’s here and we suddenly start making impossible demands of ourselves. In order to stay true to our resolutions, say longer than a month, we need to keep it easy. Your commissary is the simple solution to help you recover from the holidays and stick with it until the next holiday season. To read the rest of the story on the DeCA website, click here. To download a DeCA graphic on DVIDS, click here. To download a USDA graphic, click here.

FORT LEE, Va. – Feeling like you’re up to your chin in sugar cookies and extravagant holiday feasts? Ready to climb out of the snack wagon? Well January’s here and we suddenly start making impossible demands of ourselves. In order to stay true to our resolutions, say longer than a month, we need to keep it easy.

Your commissary is the simple solution to help you recover from the holidays and stick with it until the next holiday season. That’s the message from Deborah Harris, the Defense Commissary Agency’s dietitian and health and wellness program manager. She holds a master of Public Health degree and is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.

When committing to a healthier lifestyle and wellness goals, Harris says the commissary strives to keep patrons motivated by offering the following easily identifiable high-performance foods and easy-to-use, quick meal solutions and wellness resources:

• Dietitian-Approved Thumb (DAT): The “Thumbs Up Dietitian-Approved” tags on shelves makes it easy for patrons to quickly identify high-nutrition, quality foods to incorporate into a healthy eating pattern. DAT uses unique software that analyzes and identifies products in most of the commissary food categories based on up to 86 of the FDA-defined health attributes. These attributes can drive better shopping selections throughout the store by calling out items with limited added sugar, sodium and unhealthy fat while offering whole grains, healthy fats, fiber or lean protein as well as identify items that qualify as USDA Organic. Once these products are identified, they are labeled on the commissary shelves with a “Thumbs Up Dietitian-Approved” tag.
• “Thinking Outside the Box” recipes: Preparing nutritious food at home does not have to be difficult or expensive. With “Thinking Outside the Box” recipes, your commissary continually offers meal solutions that are quick, healthy and economical with ingredients typically offered at enhanced savings to our customers. The recipes are always accessible on commissaries.com under the “Healthy Living” tab. This library features quick and easy, dietitian-approved recipes for appetizers, entrees, salads, side dishes and even desserts.
• Commissary CLICK2GO: Use Commissary CLICK2GO, the commissary’s online ordering service, to instantly add the ingredients of your favorite dietitian-approved recipe to your virtual grocery cart. When doing your Commissary CLICK2GO ordering on Commissaries.com, click on the Recipe link, select the recipe you would like to add to your meal plan for the week and simply click the “Add to Cart” button beside each of the ingredients you need to prepare the meal. Preparing nutritious food at home has never been easier.
• Mobile App: Download DeCA’s new mobile app to access the commissary’s website programs like Commissary CLICK2GO online payment and curbside pickup, digital coupons, the sales flyer, dietitian-approved recipes, healthy living resources and much more. The mobile app is free for download through the Google Play and IOS app stores, offering our patrons more convenience and flexibility when using their commissary benefit – wherever they are.
• Fueling stations: The Dietitian-Approved Fueling Stations, located near the front-end checkout aisles in over 170 commissaries, offer tasty, nutritious meals and snacks to give patrons the convenience they need without the high-calories or high-cost of a fast food restaurant meal. Customers can expect to see products that offer protein, healthy fat, complex carbohydrates and a low-calorie form of hydration like low-calorie flavored waters and sports drinks, deli sandwiches, single-serving hummus, ready-to-eat lean protein, fruits and cheese, no-added-sugar yogurts, low-sugar protein bars, or prepared sliced fruits and salads.
• Quick home-cooked meals: Lack of time shouldn’t prevent patrons from preparing nutritious home-cooked meals. DeCA has prepared a list of no-fuss entrées chosen from the many dietitian-approved “Thinking Outside the Box” recipes featured on commissaries.com. The list is designed to minimize preparation time with quick and easy meal solutions featuring ingredients that will save money at the commissary. It features links to quick-prep recipes using a slow cooker, microwave or pressure cooker; make-ahead freezer meals; and one-skillet meals and entrees using prepared protein like rotisserie chicken and canned tuna.
• Meal planning: To take the work out of meal planning, DeCA has created two dietitian-approved dinner menu plans including weekly shopping lists, each for an entire month of family meals. These monthly menu plans are available on commissaries.com at these links: Meal Plan #1 and Meal Plan #2. Choose your preferred plan and simply print off the shopping list for the week, add breakfast and lunch items and your shopping list is ready. You will have everything you need for the week. If you would like to create your own menu plan tailoring it to your family’s preferences, use our easy-to-follow planning aids, the Dietitian-Approved Menu Planner and the Weekly Meal Plan Worksheet.

“We offer our patrons easy solutions to maintain a nutritious diet,” said Bonita Moffett, DeCA’s sales director. “We work diligently to provide the right mix of products and resources to support their wellness objectives all while saving big at the checkout. Using these commissary resources will make their New Year’s resolutions something they can stick to.”

-DeCA-

FORT LEE, Va. – Once upon a time, a number of commissaries had small branch stores that allowed customers to conveniently phone in their orders, drive up to that facility and pick up their groceries.

It wasn’t quite Commissary CLICK2GO, but it was a precursor of things to come.

“When you look back into the history of military commissaries it’s amazing to see the roots of services like the curbside pickup we’re offering today,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted advisor to the Defense Commissary Agency director. “It’s a testament to the fact that a good idea doesn’t have a shelf life.” 

So, what’s the story about commissaries and their drive-up branch stores?

The number of commissaries grew during and after World War II, but not nearly fast enough to keep up with the number of military bases or the military family population. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, most commissaries still remained low on the priority list for funds for renovations and new facility construction. 

This funding shortage forced most bases to “make do” with whatever facilities they already had. One common solution was to create a store annex or a branch store. These smaller operations allowed customers to quickly run in and pick up a few items such as bread, milk and paper towels.

The Troop Support Agency, the organization that managed Army commissaries, called these stores “Mini Coms” and the Air Force Commissary Service dubbed theirs “Wee Serve,” which reflected on their motto “We Serve Where You Serve.”

Sometimes these annexes were established as separate “neighborhood stores.” In some instances, the branch operations were separate areas within the main store building, but were walled off from the rest of the store. They kept different hours than the main store and were accessed by separate entrances. 

Several of these branch stores allowed customers to call in their order over the phone, select a time to pick their groceries up and have them brought out to their car when they arrived. Although most annexes and branches were walk-in stores, a few had a window service that turned them into “drive-ins” – also known as “drive-throughs” or “drive-thrus.”

Most of the branch stores with drive-up service were open longer hours to serve customers later in the evening or early in the morning before the regular commissary opened.

The drive-in made possible incredibly quick shopping trips, during which the customer never left the vehicle. A customer could purchase a half-dozen items and be on his or her way in a matter of minutes. Such was the case at Port Hueneme, California, in 1961. The drive-in annex was attached to the main store, but it reduced congestion in the main store and in the parking lot by enabling customers to shop without getting out of their cars.

Some stores used the drive-in concept exclusively for parcel pick-up. This was especially popular at locations where there were not enough baggers to carry every customer’s purchases to their cars. Customers would walk through the store as usual, selecting items, but at the register their groceries would be tagged with a number, and when the customer drove up to the pick-up window, he would present a matching claim ticket to the attendant. Some stores, such as the main store at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1965, provided a roof or a partial overhang for the parcel pick-up area.

Yesterday’s branch store call-in and pickup operations have evolved into today’s Commissary CLICK2GO.

“Our online ordering-curbside pick program makes shopping fun with features offering helpful product details, a robust selection of recipes, featured sales and promotions and now you can even pay online,” Saucedo said. “You arrive at your commissary and we’ll get your groceries loaded and off you go. It’s as easy as that.”

DeCA’s evolution of convenience continues with its testing of a delivery service at eight stateside installations that began June 1 and ends Aug. 30. The service allows patrons within a 20-mile radius of the participating commissary to order groceries online via Commissary CLICK2GO, and have them delivered to their front door. The test period is one of the tools the agency is using to determine future expansion of Commissary CLICK2GO delivery.

-DeCA-

NOTE: Portions of this article came from “The Illustrated History of American Military Commissaries” by Dr. Peter Skirbunt, former DeCA historian

FORT LEE, Va. – As the world celebrates 52 years of Earth Day on April 22 and the awareness it brings, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is highlighting the steps it takes every day to reduce its environmental footprint through recycling and diversion, food donations and the sale of environmentally friendly products.

Since the inception of its environmental program in 2005, DeCA has recycled or diverted over 1.9 billion pounds of solid waste from landfills worldwide. That’s the equivalent of 1,939 fully loaded Boeing 747 jumbo jets being eliminated from landfills.

“It’s not just about Earth Day,” said Steven Edlavitch, DeCA environmental program manager. “The agency has made the commitment to our communities and that means we must also ensure we are doing everything we can to protect and bring sustainability to those communities.”

To fulfill its mission of reducing the agency’s footprint, commissaries recycle and divert different types of commodities. DeCA then sells the commodities and the proceeds are added to the surcharge funds, which pays for the construction of replacement stores, renovations, maintenance and repairs of existing stores, and the purchasing of new equipment and store-level information technology systems. The sale of cardboard, plastic and office paper has generated over $57 million in surcharge funds since 2005. In 2021, DeCA recycled or diverted the following commodities:

• Aluminum cans – 1,587 pounds
• Cardboard – 70,182,331 pounds
• Compost – 8,487,554 pounds
• Fat and bones – 1,076,858 pounds
• Food donations – 4,466,361 pounds
• Food recovery (organics) – 77,320 pounds
• Local farm – 610,711 pounds
• Metal – 54,410 pounds
• Office paper – 44,348 pounds
• Other recyclables – 29,081 pounds
• Plastic – 4,074,070 pounds
• Rotisserie chicken oil – 82,227 pounds
• Toner cartridges – 72 pounds
• Wood – 2,614,418 pounds
• Wood pallets – 3,291,821 pounds

The agency also sells outdated or surplus equipment. “By using a liquidation service to help sell out-of-use items, we have supported the environment by diverting 1.5 million pounds of used equipment from landfills,” said Edlavitch. “We also boosted the commissary benefit at the same time with the sale of these items, generating over $4.1 million in surcharge revenue.”

Another part of DeCA’s environmental program is the agency’s food bank program that donates edible but unsellable food to local food banks around the country. In 2021, the agency donated over 4.4 million pounds of edible but unsellable food. Since 2012, when the program started, the agency has donated over 32 million pounds of food, eliminating approximately 2.6 million pounds of methane gas, a detrimental greenhouse gas. DeCA currently has 196 approved (DoD) food banks and 174 commissaries supporting local foodbanks.

“The pandemic created a large demand for food donations,” said Edlavitch. “Helping food-insecure families is our social responsibility. And as an added bonus, donating food also reduces our environmental impact. We will continue to look for opportunities to donate food to help support our communities.”

DeCA also participates in the Feds Feed Families Food Drive, a voluntary federal-wide and nationwide effort for employees to collect and donate food for those in need. The USDA oversees the program and DeCA manages the DoD Feds Feed Families program. The 2021 campaign, which was conducted from June 1 to Aug. 31, collected just over 7.5 million pounds for donation to food banks. Commissary customers and DeCA employees were responsible for donating 2.4 million pounds or 66 percent of the DOD wide total of 3.7 million pounds. 

Even the commissary buildings contribute to the overall mission. Many of them have been built to or have been renovated to minimize their carbon footprint. Many of the stores have glass doors on their refrigeration units, they take advantage of natural light and use solar power units and LED lighting when possible. Some stores also have low- to no-maintenance flooring which helps to reduce the chemicals and equipment needed to strip and polish floors reducing the overall cost to run stores. The agency is also working to convert or upgrade existing HVAC units and other store technologies to help reduce the footprint further. 

The last part of the agency’s mission is offering environmentally friendly products for commissary customers. Products that can reduce the customers’ impact on the environment can be found in almost every section of the store. Customers can choose from organic produce, energy-saving compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs, high-efficiency laundry products and environmentally friendly cleaning products.

Customers can also find products with reduced packaging like paper towels and bathroom tissue without the cardboard tubes.

The commissary also features a commissary store brand, Full Circle Market, that provides sustainable, simple and better choices through all-natural ingredients, while not costing a fortune or sacrificing taste. According to the brand’s website, their “organic foods are farmed and produced without chemical treatments and processing. Full Circle Market organic foods have been produced using cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that support the cycling of on-farm resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.”

Customers can also buy reusable shopping bags while shopping in their commissaries to help reduce the number of plastic bags being sent to landfills.

“While Earth Day may bring awareness to the systems and processes we have in place to help protect the environment, sustainability is something that is ingrained in how the commissaries do business,” said Edlavitch. “Our customers can count on us to be good stewards of the military and global communities.”

-DeCA-

NEWS RELEASE

Defense Commissary Agency

Corporate Communications

1300 E Avenue, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1800

Tel:  (804) 734-8000, Ext. 8-6105  DSN: 687-8000, Ext. 8-6105 

FAX: (804) 734-8248  DSN: 687-8248

www.commissaries.com

Release Number:        15-22                                                                             

Date:                              March 24, 2022

Media Contact:           Kevin L. Robinson, public affairs specialist

Tel.:                               (804) 734-8000, Ext. 4-8773

E-mail:                         kevin.robinson@deca.mil

By Kevin L. Robinson,

DeCA public affairs specialist

Facebook-friendly version: Select commissaries and exchanges worldwide are planning recognition events to honor veterans, surviving spouses and their families for Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29. Vietnam War-era veterans who served from Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975 will receive commemorative lapel pins. Participants are advised to check with their local commissaries and exchanges for scheduled ceremonies.

Click here  to read more on the DeCA website.

FORT LEE, Va. – Select commissaries and exchanges worldwide are planning recognition events to honor veterans, surviving spouses and their families for Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29.

Vietnam War-era veterans who served from Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975 will receive commemorative lapel pins. Participants are advised to check with their local commissaries and exchanges for scheduled ceremonies.

Defense Commissary Agency Director and CEO Bill Moore said it is only right that commissaries join the nation in recognizing the service and sacrifice of Vietnam War-era veterans and their families.

“When our nation called, they answered,” Moore said. “We at DeCA are privileged to acknowledge their proud legacy of service. We also want to continue welcoming the millions of eligible veterans and their caregivers who are now authorized to shop on-base.”

Approximately 9 million U.S. military members served on active duty during the Vietnam War era. Out of the 2.7 million U.S. service members who served in Vietnam, more than 58,000 were killed and more than 304,000 were wounded.

Vietnam Veterans Day was first established by presidential proclamation in 2012 leading to the start of annual observance events in 2014. The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 further established the events as a national observance to recognize Vietnam War-era veterans for their service.

At DeCA, supporting the military is part of the DNA of its workforce, with more than 65 percent of commissary employees having a direct connection to the military as a veteran, a retiree, a military family member or a reservist.

“We appreciate the opportunity to serve our military veterans because we’re in essence honoring family,” Moore said. “My dad was a Vietnam combat vet, so this is personal for me. He became disabled as a result of his service, like so many of his fellow Vietnam veterans. They deserve the honor and respect of our nation for their selfless service and sacrifice in that war.

“On this special day, March 29, we are taking time out to honor our Vietnam War-era veterans,” he added. “And for any of those vets who are disabled and can shop in our stores, we want to reach out to them and let them know the commissary is here to deliver savings on their grocery bill.”

To learn more about the National Vietnam War Commemoration effort, go to their website.

-DeCA-