Businesses

APPENDIX C03. STUDY OVERVIEW (GROUPS 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, AND 3)

OMB Number: 0584-xxxx
Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx
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 0.03 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.

2024–2025 National School Foods Study
About the Study

The National School Foods Study will continue the long-standing commitment of the USDA
Food and Nutrition Service to comprehensively assess school meal programs. This
important study will inform current and future policy decisions to better serve students.
The results from similar past studies can be found at FNS website:
• www.fns.usda.gov/school-nutrition-and-meal-cost-study
• www.fns.usda.gov/school-food-purchase-study-iii
FNS has contracted with Mathematica and its research partners Decision Information
Resources (DIR) and ProTeam Foodservice Advisors to conduct this study. The study will
collect a broad range of data from public school food authorities (SFAs), schools, and
students and their parents.

Participating in
the Study

More than 1,000 SFAs across the country are participating in the study! The study will only
collect data necessary for the study's success. Participation by selected state agencies,
school districts, and schools is required under Section 28 of the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act.

Protecting Privacy All information gathered from SFAs, schools, and households is for research purposes only. It
will be kept private to the full extent allowed by law. We will group responses with those of
other study participants. Individual districts, schools, or students will not be identified outside
of the study team. We will inform selected parents of the study and of our privacy practices.
Any selected parent or student can choose not to participate in the study. We are not
conducting audits or monitoring visits. Taking part in the study will not affect meal payment to
participating SFAs and schools or school meal program benefits to participating households.

For More
Information

[Project Director]
Study Project Director
Mathematica
[EMAIL]
[PHONE]
For more information about the study:
[LINK]

Ashley Chaifetz
Study Project Officer
Office of Policy Support
USDA Food and Nutrition Service
ashley.chaifetz@usda.gov