The assessment provides a national estimate of the share of CACFP participating family daycare homes that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier," for their circumstances. Tiering errors result in improper payments because misclassified family daycare homes do not receive the appropriate level of reimbursement for the meals and snacks provided to the children. The assessment also estimates the dollar amount of improper payments attributable to family daycare home tiering errors.

This report is the latest in a series on SNAP participation rates. Estimates are based on the March 2011 Current Population Survey and program administrative data for fiscal year  2010. The findings represent participation rates for FY 2010.

This is the sixth in a series of annual reports that examines the administrative accuracy of eligibility determinations and benefit issuance for free or reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program. About 98 percent of students submitting applications for meal benefits in school year 2009/10 were certified for the correct level of meal benefits, based on information in the application files. This was comparable to school year 2008/09.

This report presents historical data on the availability of nutrients in the U.S. food supply from 2000-2006. The data and trends presented in this report are invaluable for monitoring the potential of the food supply to meet nutritional needs; for examining relationships between food supplies, diet, and health; and for examining dietary trends of Americans. 

These demonstration projects are being conducted under the authority and funding provided by the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010. The Appropriations Act authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to use $85 million to develop and test alternative methods of providing access to food for low-income children in urban and rural areas during the summer months, when schools are not in regular session.

This study describes some of the choices state agencies made as they exercised the flexibility offered during the implementation and describes the resulting food packages.

The Workshop on Understanding the Relationship Between Food Insecurity and Obesity, held in Washington, DC, from Nov. 16 -18, 2010, was designed to provide an opportunity to explore and illuminate the relationship between food insecurity and obesity, the current state of research, and data and analyses needed to advance understanding of the relationship as a way of countering both hunger and obesity in the United States. 

This is a report of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, which was commissioned by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. It is available here by permission. It may also be obtained through the Institute of Medicine website. This is the final version of the report. An earlier, prepublication version was made available in November 2010, but should no longer be used. This final version includes some important corrections.

This is the fifth report in a series of periodic analyses to estimate the extent of trafficking in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Trafficking – selling SNAP benefits to food retailers for cash - impedes the mission and compromises the integrity of SNAP. While not a cost to the Federal Government, trafficking diverts benefits from their intended purpose of helping low-income families access a nutritious diet. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) aggressively acts to control trafficking by using SNAP purchase data to identify suspicious transaction patterns, conducting undercover investigations, and collaborating with other investigative agencies.

This study identifies how spending patterns, such as the rate at which households spend their benefit, changed following the ARRA benefit increase and analyzes how spending patterns differed across household characteristics, time and states.