This report describes the first national study of emergency shelters participating in CACFP. The objective of this study was to gain a general understanding of the characteristics of CACFP emergency shelters, who they serve, how CACFP fits into their operations, and their challenges with CACFP.
Adult day care centers have been eligible to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since 1987. The objective of this study is to better understand key characteristics of adult day care centers participating in CACFP.
The USDA FNS Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program awards grants annually to support schools, non-profits, Indian Tribal Organizations, state agencies, producers, and other entities who are planning, developing, and implementing farm to school programs. This report presents findings of the FNS evaluation of the fiscal year 2018 and 2019 Farm to School grantees, highlighting their activities, achievements, and challenges.
The 2023 Farm to School Census collected information on farm to school participation by school food authorities (SFAs) in school year 2022–23. Every SFA participating in the National School Lunch Program in the 50 states, Washington, DC, and five territories received an online survey asking about the farm to school activities they participated in, details of their participation, and their perspectives on farm to school.
This report responds to a Congressional directive in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Bill of 2020, tasking the USDA FNS with studying challenges facing FDPIR in reaching underserved populations, specifically homebound and elderly individuals unable to travel to FDPIR distribution locations. The report summarizes findings from a survey of FDPIR program operators about how they serve these populations, challenges encountered, and recommendations for enhancing accessibility for the homebound and elderly.
This study examines the characteristics of current and former CACFP participants among family day care home providers using a nationally representative survey. It examines patterns of CACFP enrollment, perceptions of CACFP, challenges to participating in CACFP, and recommendations for improving the program. Former participants were defined as ones who had participated in 2019 and were no longer operating by 2023. The main reason they cited for leaving CACFP was because they were no longer operating as childcare providers.
The analysis in this report uses data from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education to compare the general characteristics of childcare providers, both centers and day care homes, by CACFP participation status and eligibility. The report also provides the first known estimates of provider participation rates in CACFP. The analysis also uses a follow-up data set to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected provider operations and CACFP participation.
The program participation dashboard is an interactive tool that provides FNS nutrition program data, including participation and meals served, at the state, territory, and national levels.
This data collection fulfills states’ reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic from July 2020 through Dec. 2021. It is part of an ongoing study series examining CN program operations, repurposed to collect waiver reports from all states. A previous report in the series detailed waiver usage and trends in program participation and operations from March through Sept. 2020.
This analysis helps to estimate the nutritional quality of the 2022 FDPIR food package 'as offered' using the Healthy Eating Index scoring algorithm. This will provide an update to the first HEI estimate of the 2014 FDPIR food package. The project also aims to estimate the HEIs of the food packages 'as delivered' to participants.