USDA produces four food plans outlining practical, nutritious diets at successively higher cost levels: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. The Thrifty Food Plan serves as the basis for maximum allotments in SNAP.

The physical presence waiver, issued under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, allowed WIC state and local agencies to remotely certify participants into WIC during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report summarizes data collected from surveys of WIC state and local agencies about the use of the physical presence waiver and the impact it had on WIC services.

Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the USDA FNS issued certain programmatic waivers to state agencies to support continued access to WIC services and provide flexibilities to some administrative requirements. This brief report summarizes findings about the use and impact of these waivers from surveys of WIC state and local agencies.

The WIC Vendor Management Study: 2015 Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Pilot examined compliance with program requirements and rates of violations among WIC EBT vendors in 2015 and tested a method to identify and measure errors that contribute to improper payments in an EBT environment.

Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, the USDA Pilot Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables was designed to provide states with additional flexibility in the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Participating states and school food authorities can purchase approved items with existing USDA Foods National School Lunch Program entitlement funds from any USDA Pilot-authorized vendor in support of the school meal standards.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of state agencies current peer group systems, and to provide guidance to state agencies on how to evaluate and update their systems. Specifically, it uses empirical analysis to identify one or more effective models for establishing vendor peer groups that could apply to most state agencies.

The information in this second year report (school year 2012-13), the first year new lunch standards were implemented, will provide data for observing the improvements resulting from the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Data was collected from a survey of all state child nutrition directors and a nationally representative sample of school food authorities.

This report assesses that pilot and includes a qualitative evaluation of the vendor and ITO experiences and an assessment of pilot costs.

This series of research briefs examines best practices in school food authorities' implementation of key provisions and their impacts in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, including fruits and vegetables, plate waste, sodium, participation, revenue, whole grains, smart snacks, and a special view of obesity.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required the Food and Nutrition Service to conduct a demonstration that adds Medicaid to the list of programs used to directly certify students for free school meals. Although students receiving Medicaid are not categorically eligible for free meals, the DC-M demonstration authorizes selected States and districts to use income information from Medicaid files to directly certify those students found to be eligible for free meals.