FNS Documents & Resources

The purpose of the authors’ study was to examine the role of contributing factors in school foodborne outbreaks. Contamination factors accounted for the greatest proportion (49.2%) of outbreaks involving some level of food handling interaction by a school food service worker, followed by proliferation (34.9%) and survival factors (15.9%). Over 56% of all illnesses were associated with norovirus and food service worker practices.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child. The report shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2012 can expect to spend about $241,080 ($301,970 adjusted for projected inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities associated with child-rearing expenses over the next 17 years.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that for three decades has helped supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including seniors, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance at no cost. This white paper explains the program and describes some of its key results.