II. Survey Methodology Survey Outreach
The survey’s target audience was those administering federal Child Nutrition Programs locally, including school nutrition directors and school business officials, who could provide insight into food procurement challenges and procurement training needs. To reach as many of the 18,451 SFAs in the United States and its territories as possible, the study team contacted all the state agencies that oversee federal nutrition programs for each of the U.S. states and territories. 4 For example, the Texas Department of Agriculture oversees federal nutrition programs in that state, while in New York the programs are under the State Education Department. The study team asked state agency directors from all US states and territories to share the survey with SFAs in their state, from a contact list of state agency leads previously created by USFA. In addition, the study team emailed 44 active state affiliates of the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) and asked them to forward the survey link to their members. The study team provided both groups with language that explained who was administering the survey, its purpose, and respondent eligibility to promote the survey through various communication channels (e.g., email, newsletters). All communications were approved and cleared for distribution by USDA Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS); see Pre-Survey Email to State Agencies in Appendix A. Separately, USFA sent survey emails directly to members of their cooperative agreement’s State Agency Subcommittee, and also shared the survey with their Advisory Procurement Work Group during their in-person annual gathering in February 2025. The survey outreach and dissemination plan also included reminders throughout the survey’s four-week duration. The study team sent reminders to any state agency contact who did not confirm their plan to advertise the survey. These reminders included a first reminder one week after initial outreach, a second reminder two weeks after the first, and a third reminder one week before the survey closed. Thirty-five state agencies responded favorably to the initial email request and subsequent reminders, with 33 opting to share the survey on their own. Two state agencies shared lists of SFAs, and the study team sent the survey directly to the contacts on those lists. Survey Design The study team and USFA collaborated to design the survey questions. Some survey questions were developed from themes that emerged from USFA’s focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and input from their State Agency Subcommittee and the Advisory Procurement Workgroup, which includes a diverse cross-section of members from the school food procurement supply chain. The survey was reviewed and approved for distribution by USDA FNS (OMB Control Number 0584-0611). The survey was open from
5 Procuring Good Food at School: From Contracts to Lunch Trays |
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