C14 SFPS Food Purch Plan Interview (G1ab)

APPENDIX C14. SFPS Food Purchase Planning Interview (Groups 1a and 1b)

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service in understanding school food purchasing practices, the nutritional quality of school meals and snacks, the cost to produce school meals, and student participation and dietary intakes. This is a mandatory collection and FNS will use the information to monitor program operations. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-[xxxx]. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 0.25 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx). Do not return the completed form to this address.

OMB Number: 0584-XXXX

Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

USDA/Food and Nutrition Service

2024–2025 National School Foods Study

Food Purchase Planning Interview

ALL

Intro. I have some questions for you about your SFA’s food purchase practices and records to help prepare for the quarterly food purchase data collection. This should take about 15 minutes. Is now a good time to go through these?

I will ask for the names for all vendors and distributors, and contact information for any food-buying cooperatives from which you purchase food. Will you be able to provide that on this call or will you need to collect that information later?

ALL

1. In the current school year, 2024­­­­–2025, is your food service operation under the direction of a food service management company (FSMC)?

m Yes 1

m No 0 GO TO Q3

NO RESPONSE M GO TO Q3

Q1=1

2. Can you please provide the name and contact information for the FSMC?

This will help us provide you with more specific guidance when we ask you to provide your quarterly food purchase data. We may want to contact them for additional information on your SFA’s food purchase data and practices.

NO RESPONSE M

Q1=1

2a. Which of the following describes your contract with the food service management company?

IF NEEDED:

Cost reimbursable contract is defined as a contract that provides for payment of incurred costs to the extent prescribed in the contract, with or without a fixed fee.

Fixed price contract means a contract that charges a fixed cost per meal, or a fixed cost for a certain time period.

m Cost reimbursable 1

m Fixed price 2

m Other (Specify) 3

Please describe your contract:

NO RESPONSE M

Q1=0

3. In the current school year does your school district receive prepared, or vended, meals from an outside vendor?

Prepared or vended meals are meals provided by an external vendor or another district and not prepared by the food service staff in the district.

m Yes 1

m No 0 GO TO Q4

NO RESPONSE M GO TO Q4

Q3=1

3a. Can you p lease provide the name and contact information for the vendor that provides prepared meals?

This will help us provide you with more specific guidance when we ask you to provide your quarterly food purchase data. We may also want to contact them for additional information on your SFA’s food purchase data and practices.

NO RESPONSE M

ALL

4. Is your school district participating in a food-buying cooperative in the current school year?

These groups are often formed through agreements with other SFAs, or between Child Nutrition Program State agencies and SFAs, to increase purchasing power to competitively procure goods and services.

m Yes 1

m No 0 GO TO Q5

NO RESPONSE M GO TO Q5

Q4=1

4a. How many food-buying cooperatives does your school district participate in?

NO RESPONSE M

Q4=1

4b. What [is/are] the name(s) of the food-buying cooperatives?

This will help us provide you with more specific guidance when we ask you to provide your quarterly food purchase data.

NO RESPONSE M

Q1=1 AND Q4=0 [IF SFA USES FSMC AND NO BUYING GROUPS]

5. Has your school district purchased any foods from any vendors outside of the FSMC (IF Q3=1: or vendor for your prepared meals) in school year 2024-2025?

m Yes 1

m No 0 GO TO Q7

NO RESPONSE M GO TO Q7

Q1=0 OR Q5=1 [IF SFA DOES NOT USE FSMC OR PURCHASED ANY FOODS FROM ANY VENDORS OUTSIDE OF THE FSMC]

6. Now I’d like to collect some information about the vendors your school district uses. This will help in ensuring we collect all your SFA’s food purchase data for your assigned quarter. For this question, the term “vendor” is defined as a seller of commercial products.

For each food type I list, I’ll ask you to provide the number of all vendors and distributors from whom you currently purchase foods. I’ll also ask you to provide the vendors’ and distributors’ names.

1. From how many vendors do you purchase fresh milk? [DCTA: ENTER NUMBER]

   1. What is the name/are the names of the vendor(s)? [ENTER NAME(S) IN VENDOR ROW(S) AND SELECT CHECKBOX IN “Fresh milk” COLUMN]

   2. [ FOR EACH VENDOR NAMED] Do you purchase any other foods from this vendor?

      1. [IF YES] Which foods? [IF NEEDED, LIST OTHER FOODS NOT ALREADY ASKED ABOUT. SELECT CHECKBOX FOR EACH FOOD TYPE LISTED. REPEAT QUESTION 1b AND 1bi FOR ALL VENDORS MENTIONED.]

AFTER COLLECTING NAMES OF ALL VENDORS THAT PROVIDE FRESH MILK, AND ANY OTHER FOODS THOSE VENDORS PROVIDE, ASK ABOUT EACH FOLLOWING FOOD TYPE:

2. [IF VENDOR(S) ALREADY IDENTIFIED FOR FOOD TYPE] Do you purchase [food type] from any other vendors? [READ ALL EXAMPLES OF FOOD TYPE IN PARENTHESES.]

   1. [IF YES OR NO VENDOR ALREADY IDENTIFIED FOR FOOD TYPE] From how many vendors do you purchase [food type]? [ENTER NUMBER]

3. [ALL] What is the name/are the names of the vendor(s)? [ENTER NAME(S) IN VENDOR ROW(S) AND SELECT APPROPRIATE CHECKBOXES.]

4. [ALL] Do you purchase any other foods from this vendor?

   1. [IF YES] Which foods? [IF NEEDED, LIST OTHER FOODS NOT ALREADY ASKED ABOUT]

REPEAT QUESTIONS 2/3 THROUGH 5 FOR ALL FOOD TYPES.

• Dairy products, including cheese, butter, yogurt, and other milk-related products, fresh eggs, substitute dairy products, ice cream

• Bread and bakery products, including breads, rolls, buns, pizza dough, cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts

• Fresh Produce, including fresh fruits and vegetables including whole and fresh-cut, i.e. chopped lettuce, salad mix, apple slices

• Canned and Staple foods, including canned fruits, vegetables, beans, meat/meat alternates, staple foods such as flour, sugar, rice, cereal, and cooking oils

• Frozen foods, including frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen meats and meat alternates like chicken nuggets and veggie burgers, frozen pizza, other frozen entrees or side dishes

• Fresh meats, poultry, fish, and plant-based meat alternates, including fresh soy beans, tofu, seitan

• Snack items, including potato chips, pretzels, individual pack of cookies

• Other beverages, including water, fruit juice, and sparkling beverages

Fresh milk

Dairy products

Bread and bakery products

Fresh produce

Canned and Staple foods

Frozen foods

Fresh meats, poultry, fish, and plant-based meat alternates

Snack items

Other beverages

Number of vendors

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

[ENTER VENDOR 1]

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

[ENTER VENDOR 2]

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

[ENTER VENDOR 3]

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

[ENTER VENDOR 4]

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

[ENTER VENDOR 5]

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Total vendors

PROGRAMMER: SUM CHECK BOXES IN EACH COLUMN

PROGRAMMER: DISPLAY 20 VENDOR ROWS

ALL

7. As I mentioned, we plan to collect your quarterly food purchase data for Quarter [1/2/3/4], [Month1 – Month3]. In preparation for that, we would like to learn more about how your school district tracks food purchases. Are you able to provide food purchase data for specific months or quarters?

m Yes, months only 1

m Yes, quarters only 2

m Yes, both months and quarters 3

m No 0

m Other (SPECIFY) 4

Specify

NO RESPONSE M

ALL

8. Are you able to provide food purchase data aggregated across all schools? That is, can you provide food purchase data at the SFA-level, rather than the school-level?

Select all that apply

m Yes, can provide SFA-level purchase data 1

m No, can only provide school-level purchase data 2

m Other (SPECIFY) 3

Specify

NO RESPONSE M

ALL

9. Now I’m going to ask about which types of records your school district uses to track food purchases. Do you use. . .

Select all that apply

o Inventory records? 1

o Vendor summaries? 2

o Velocity reports? 3

o Invoices? 4

o Bid specifications or procurement documents? 5

o Receipts? 6

o Any other types of records? (SPECIFY) 7

Specify

NO RESPONSE M

ALL

10. Of the records you use, which are available in an editable format? An editable format is an electronic data file, like a spreadsheet, or a report that can be edited on a computer, unlike a paper copy or scanned document..

PROGRAMMER: DISPLAY ONLY ITEMS SELECTED IN Q9.

Select all that apply

o Inventory records 1

o Vendor summaries 2

o Velocity reports 3

o Invoices 4

o Bid specifications or procurement documents 5

o Receipts 6

o [FILL Q9 OTHER RESPONSE] 7

m None 0

NO RESPONSE M

Notes:

ALL

11. Does your SFA receive USDA Foods commodities or Commodity Letters of Credit (CLOC) or Cash in Lieu of Commodities? Certain SFAs can elect to receive cash payments, or money, through Commodity Letters of Credit (CLOC) or Cash in Lieu instead of USDA-purchased foods or commodities.

m Receive USDA Foods 1

m Receive CLOC or Cash in Lieu 2

m Other (SPECIFY) 3

Specify

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

Those are all the questions I have at this time.

I will follow up with an email [later today/tomorrow] that summarizes the next steps and confirms the dates we just discussed. [CONFIRM E-MAIL ADDRESS.]

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please call me directly at XXX-XXX-XXXX or email me at [EMAIL].

File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
File Title	SNMCS Planning Interview Draft
Subject	SAQ
Author	Mathematica staff
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2024-08-06