This Report to Congress from USDA responds to a requirement established by the 2018 Farm Bill to address requirements to coordinate efforts within USDA to reduce barriers to food access. USDA has identified FNS as the Food Access Liaison to coordinate efforts and annually respond to this request. The report describes activities that occurred from October 2020 through September 2023 to reduce barriers to food access given the last such annual report submitted in March 2021 covered fiscal year 2020
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.
SNAP helps put healthy food within reach for those in need. This dashboard is intended to provide the public with an understanding of how SNAP helps make nutritious food more affordable for low-income households.
This rulemaking finalizes long-term school nutrition requirements based on the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, robust stakeholder input, and lessons learned from prior rulemakings.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.
This rulemaking proposes long-term school nutrition standards based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, and feedback the USDA received from child nutrition program stakeholders during a robust stakeholder engagement campaign.
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.
The purpose of the descriptive retrospective study discussed in this article was to analyze data collected within the Electronic Foodborne Outbreak Reporting System (eFORS) in school settings in order to examine the magnitude of foodborne disease etiologies and to recommend strategies for prevention.