The USDA Food and Nutrition Service conducts a variety of studies, evaluations, and related activities that respond to the needs of policymakers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively. This plan provides short descriptions of projects that are expected to launch in fiscal year (FY) 2025.
It reflects decisions by FNS program and research staff and leadership on the best use of available research funding to meet current information needs that are aligned with agency priorities to improve program efficiency, integrity, and nutrition. FNS developed this plan in consultation with the agencies of the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area.
This notice corrects a table for the initial Child Nutrition Program Income Eligibility Guidelines.
This notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals, free milk, and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer benefits for the period from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
The CN Labeling Program is designed to aid schools and institutions participating in the National School Lunch, School Breakfast Program, CACFP and Summer Food Service program by determining the contribution a commercial product makes toward the meal pattern requirements of these programs.
This is a revision of a currently approved information collection for Pandemic EBT (P–EBT) for the reporting burden associated with administering P–EBT. This revision is limited in nature and only includes collection activities essential to facilitating the orderly wind-down and close-out of the P–EBT program.
This final rule amends the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) regulations by lowering the minimum identified student percentage (ISP) from 40 percent to 25 percent.
This action implements statutory requirements and policy improvements to strengthen administrative oversight and operational performance of the Child Nutrition Programs.
FNS plans to conduct an annual assessment through the School Meals Operations Study in SY 2023–24. This notice covers the fourth year of the SMO Study, which will collect data from state and local agencies on the CN COVID–19 waivers as well as data on state and local CN program operations during SY 2022–23. Data collection will occur in SY 2023–24.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted school meal operations and has contributed to lasting supply chain issues affecting the cost and availability of food and labor. The School Food Authority Survey II on Supply Chain Disruption and Student Participation was administered to all SFAs operating child nutrition programs in schools to gather information on the impacts of continued supply chain disruptions and the return to standard operations during SY 2022–23.
This collection is an extension, without change, of a currently approved collection for assisting state agencies and school nutrition professionals in recording, tracking, and managing the required training hours for state and local school district nutrition professionals to meet the requirements of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 Professional Standards Rule.