This report responds to the charge in the explanatory statement of Chairman Obey, entered into the Congressional Record Feb. 23, 2009, regarding the request from Congress in the conference report for the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (PL 111–8). The conference report included the following directive:
This report presents the findings of a study sponsored by FCS that examined the food-choice behavior of low-income families. FCS undertook the study to better understand the food-purchasing and food choice decisions of the population the program serves.
Charting the Course for Evaluation: How Do We Measure the Success of Nutrition Education and Promotion in Food Assistance Programs? brought together nutrition educators, traditional evaluators, market researchers, and experts at evaluation of health promotion efforts to establish a dialogue to identify and push forward the state of the art in evaluating nutrition education and promotion efforts. The conference took place on July 13 and 14, 1995 in Arlington, Virginia.
FNS asked Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., (MPR) to assess the CPS estimates in relation to alternative estimates from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which collects longitudinal monthly income data.