Challenges Ranked by Frequency Respondents ranked the frequency of six pre-identified challenges from 1 to 6, with 1 being their most frequently encountered challenge. Overwhelmingly, respondents named complexity of meal pattern regulatory requirements as the most frequently faced challenge, with 58% of respondents naming this as either the first- or second-ranked most frequent challenge. Lack of alignment between local, state, and federal procurement rules and poor vendor interest and retention were more distant second choices, with 37% and 36%, respectively.
Figure 3. Challenges Ranked by Frequency
Challenges Ranked by Frequency (Where 1 is Most Frequent) 0% Complexity of meal pattern regulatory requirements 40% 20% 60% 80% 10% 50% 30% 70% 37% 21%
90% 100%
13% 10% 10% 9%
Lack of alignment between local, state, and federal procurement rules
17%
20%
19%
19%
14% 11%
Poor vendor interest or retention
17%
18%
17%
13% 15%
20%
Insufficient or inaccessible training resources
12%
15%
18%
18%
20%
17%
Limited adoption or underutilization of software or technology for procurement
8%
14% 17%
21%
21%
20%
Lack of inconsistent procurement forecasting at the district level
9% 12% 16%
19%
21%
23%
1
2
3
4
5
6
However, when disaggregating the ranking by district size, there was a stark difference across size groups for the second highest ranked challenge. Interestingly, 54% of SFAs with over 20,000 students named lack of rules alignment between local, state, and federal procurement rules as one of their top two most frequent challenges, while just 28% of SFAs with under 1,000 students said the same. 9 The smaller school districts who responded to the survey see poor vendor interest or retention and insufficient training resources as challenges that occur more frequently than lack of alignment of procurement rules. (See Figure 4. Top Challenges by District Size)
14 Procuring Good Food at School: From Contracts to Lunch Trays |
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