School Food Purchase Study - III

SFA Food Purchases

Appendix 1: DATA NEGOTIATION PROTOCOL

Data Negotiation Protocol - by telephone (or personal visit for large districts)
						Date:______________________
						Project Staff:________________
						SFA#______________________
Name of School District:______________________________________
City, State, Zip:______________________________________________
Name of Contact Person:______________________________________ E-mail Address: _____________________________________
Phone:______________________ Time of Call: __________
I hope you had a chance to look over the introductory letter we sent describing what you will need to send us. I'd like to go through the information with you now to determine the easiest way for you to assemble the information to be sent to us.
I have a couple of general questions, then some specific questions to ask you about the commodities you receive, the foods you purchase and your meal program. I don’t expect that you will need any records in front of you to answer most of these questions. If you do need to look something up we can take a break, or I can call you back later.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 45 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service Office of Research and Analysis, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302 ATTN: PRA (0584-0471*). Do not return the completed form to this address.

I. General questions
First, the general questions
1.1 Do you belong to a buying cooperative?
		Yes ____				No ____
	If YES, Describe______________________________________________________
	__________________________________________________________________
	__________________________________________________________________
1.2 Do you purchase pre-plated meals?
			Yes ____			No ____
	If YES, Describe______________________________________________________
	__________________________________________________________________
	__________________________________________________________________
1.3 Do you have written bid specs and bid solicitations, or informal specs?
			Written ____					Informal ____
If WRITTEN, are they the same for all of your kitchens or are some specs decentralized?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
If WRITTEN, will you please send us a copy?
			Yes ____			No ____
1.4 What was the total number of reimbursable lunches served in October 2008?
_______________________
1.5 Can you send us copies of menus for a complete menu cycle?
		Yes ____					No ____
1.6 Do you do any deep frying of french fries or other foods?
		Yes ____					No ____
We will be sending you a check at the beginning of the data collection period to help defray your out-of-pocket expenses. To whom should the check be made payable?
________________________________________________________________________
(calculation of check is 1¢ per reimbursable meal in October 2008 with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $400)

II Donated commodities
Now, I will ask about the USDA-donated foods you receive.
How are USDA-donated foods delivered to you?
	Direct shipped by USDA					______
	Delivered by your State					______
	Delivered by commercial distributors					______
		Who? ________________________________________________________
		Will they be clearly marked on the invoice or summary? ________________________________________________________
	You pick them up					______
	Other (Specify) _____________________________
How often do you normally receive USDA-donated foods?
	Monthly					______
	More frequently than monthly					______
	Less frequently than monthly					______
	Comments:________________________________________________________
	________________________________________________________
How many drop locations? _______
Do you receive processed products containing USDA commodities?
			Yes ____		No ____
If YES, complete the following:
	Commodity			Processed product		Rebate/Discount/NPA/SFA,NOI
	____________________			___________________		______________________
	____________________			___________________		______________________
	____________________			___________________		______________________
	____________________			___________________		______________________
	____________________			___________________		______________________
	____________________			___________________		______________________
How are these identified on your purchase records?__________________________________

What is the easiest way of providing us with information on the volume of donated foods received by your school district for the three months we are interested in? (Note - we need receipts only, not offers.)
	Copies of delivery slips/invoices	_____
	A State report or summary	_____
	Perpetual inventory cards	_____
	Your own computer printout	_____
Other (Specify) _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________

III. Food purchases
Now, we need to decide on the easiest way for you to provide us with a record of your food purchases for the three months.
Are your commercial orders placed centrally, decentrally, or in some combination?
		Centrally			_____
		Decentrally			_____
		Combination (Describe) ________________
_____________________________________
	If DECENTRALIZED, are purchase records available centrally?
		Yes ____		No ____
Begin vendor summary here - do first column for number of vendors and their names.
How many of your vendors do you think are able to provide monthly/quarterly summaries of the products you purchase from them?
	List response on Vendor Profile/Summary (following)
	Verify that summaries will include product name, unit size, brand, unit price or total cost, number of cases delivered during the month and all delivery sites.
	(Note: It’s important to note that the summaries run from the beginning of the month to the end – or the beginning of the quarter to the end. Adjustments will be needed if they run from the 15th of the month to the 15th of the following month.)
	Offer to send draft letter that they can send to their vendors.
	For vendors that cannot provide summaries, be sure to record the number of deliveries/month (column 2) that represents the total for all delivery sites. (i.e. deliveries/SFA/vendor/month/kitchen). Clarify that this is the number of invoices we should expect to receive. If it is not, make a note on the bottom of the vendor profile/summary form.
	Discuss use of tally sheets for those vendors with few products and many deliveries (milk, snacks, etc.).
	Discuss perpetual inventory cards if necessary. Make sure all needed data elements are contained - product description, case size, case price, number of cases received, and date of receipt.
Do you have a school garden that provides foods for you to use? ______ Any other sources of food? ______

Vendor Profile/Summary

SFA NAME_____________________ SFA #____________
Food Type	Vendor(s)	# Deliveries Per Month	Document Type
			Summary	Invoices	Electronic Version	Tally Sheets	Perpetual Inventory	Other
Canned Goods/Staples
Frozen Meats/Poultry/ Entrees/Seafood
Fresh Meats/Poultry/ Seafood
Milk
Non-dairy beverages
Ice Cream
Bread
Fresh Produce – (e.g. from commercial vendors/local farmers/school gardens etc.)
Frozen Vegetables/ Fruits
Pre-Plated Meals
Candy
Snack/Cakes
Chips
Component Kits or Branded Sandwiches, Tacos, Pizza, Etc.
Other food types

IV. A la carte food sales
Now, I have a few questions on a la carte sales:
Do you have any a la carte sales other than milk?
		Yes ____		No ____
	If YES, briefly describe your a la carte operation.
	_________________________________________________________________
	_________________________________________________________________
	_________________________________________________________________
	If YES, could you send us a copy of your a la carte menu and price list?
	If YES, and your a la carte sales are restricted to a relatively small number of items (say the top 10), identify each and indicate which grade levels may purchase each item.
	Items				What grade levels may purchase this a la carte item?
					Elementary Secondary All
1.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
2.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
3.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
4.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
5.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
6.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
7.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
8.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
9.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____
10.	______________________________				_____ _____ _____

V. Product recalls
Finally, I have one last concern regarding product recalls:
We will need to capture any product recalls that occur during your three month period on foods you have acquired (whether they were acquired during this same time span or earlier). What is the best way for us to collect information on product recalls? (E.g. will they be on invoices as returns, or on separate documents?)
	_________________________________________________________________
	_________________________________________________________________
	_________________________________________________________________
	_________________________________________________________________
OK. That’s it for now. Let’s take a look back at what we have decided on for the easiest way for you to send us the data elements needed for the study.
For the months of _______________, __________________, and _________________ you will send us:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________ Bid specs
____________ Commodities
____________ Vendor summaries (identify vendors)
____________ Invoices (identify vendors)
____________ Tally sheets (identify products)
____________ Monthly menus
____________ A la carte menus
____________ Price list
We will need the first month’s data by the middle of the second month. If you can’t get it to us by then please call and let us know.
If you have questions at any point in the study, please call us at the 1-800-XXX.XXXX
Thanks again for all of your help.
Time call ended:________________
Schedule for another if necessary:________________

Appendix 2: SCHOOL FOOD PURCHASE AND COMMODITY DONATION DATA

There is no standard form used to collect the food purchase data. School districts will be asked to provide source documents that provide detailed information about the foods purchased and USDA donated commodities received during a specified 3-month time period. Negotiations will take place during recruitment to determine the least burdensome approach to obtaining this information.

Districts can choose one of the following methods or a combination of methods to keep the burden to a minimum:

• Vendor Summaries

• Copies of Invoices

• Tally Sheets

• Bid Specifications

Regardless of the method the school district elects to use, the following data elements associated with food purchases and commodity donations must be included on the source documents:

• Type of product purchased (e.g., turkey burger, cheese pizza, canned tomatoes)

• Brand name, if a branded product

• Product Code Number

• Unit Size (pack size, case size, etc.)

• Number of cases (units) purchased

• Unit price

• Total Cost

• Fuel or other additional charges

• Rebates/discounts or credits

Appendix 3: DATA SUMMARY FORM AND OILS AND FATS PURCHASES SUMMARY FORM

Data Summary Form (Part A) and Oils And Fats Purchases Summary Form (Part B)

Name of School District:______________________________________

City, State, Zip:______________________________________________

Name of Contact Person:______________________________________

E-mail Address: _____________________________________

OMB Clearance Number: 0584-0471

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service Office of Research and Analysis, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx*). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Part A: Instructions for completing the Data Summary Form

Please find attached on the Data Summary Form a summary of what we have transcribed and entered as your food deliveries for the three month period, April, May and June. We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to:

1. Review what we have recorded. We want to know if we have a complete data set and whether what we have entered correctly reflects your deliveries. We realize that some of your food products might be described a little differently from the invoice information because we have categorized your food items in a standard format. If you find any errors, e.g., we have recorded your beef patties as cooked when, in fact, they are uncooked, please mark the correction on the data summary sheet and return the sheet to us.

2. Review the “rebate/discount/donation” column (column 6). In this column we have marked those processed food items in which we believe USDA-donated foods were used as ingredients. We have placed a letter representing the kind of processing we believe the product to be in this column. Here are the codes we used:

D for items for which we think you pay a discounted price,

R for items for which we think you receive a rebate check,

U for items delivered straight to you as USDA-donated foods.

P for items for which you received USDA-donated foods and then sent them out for further processing.

Please correct those that we have misidentified and fill-in any that are missing. Call us if you have had products that contain USDA-donated foods and you are not sure whether they should be flagged as an R, D, P or U.

3. Please place a check mark in column 7a headed ‘used in a la carte’ for any item that you use as part of your a la carte food offering. If the item is used for both a la carte and reimbursable meals, please make an estimate of the percentage used for a la carte and write that percentage in the column 7b headed ‘% of total’. If the item is used only for a la carte sales, write 100 in column 7b.

4. If the food product is used for a program other than school a la carte, school lunch or school breakfast (for example, Head Start, Afterschool Snack Program, etc.) place a check in column 8a headed ‘used in other programs’. If the item is used for both school and other programs, please make an estimate of the percentage used for other programs and write that percentage in column 8b headed ‘% of total’. If the item is used only for other programs, write 100 in column 8b.

Again, feel free to call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding this summary. We are anxious to report data that are complete and correct so that the contribution of the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs can be accurately measured.

Thank you for your time.

Please return this form to the following address: XXXXXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXXXXX. If there are any questions please contact Mr/Ms XXX tel: 1-800-YYY-YYYY or email: [email protected]

MONTH: April					Part A: DATA SUMMARY FORM						# 4001
DISTRICT NAME: Spring Hill									VENDOR NAME: Sysco
1	2		3			4	5	6	7		8
Product Description	Unit Size		Unit cost			Number of units	Total	Rebate/ discount/ donation	Used in a la carte		Used in other programs
									7a Check if used in a la carte	7b % of total	8a Check if used in other programs	8b % of total
Cheese, American	5 lb 4		34.00			762	25,908.00
Eggroll, Beef and Vegetable	4.2 oz 60		30.30			845	25,603.50
Cheese, Cheddar	5 lb 4		38.00			585	22,230.00
Ketchup	9 gr 1000		9.88			1884	18,613.92
Pork Sausage Patty, Uncooked	1.25 oz 142		18.68			840	15,691.20
Cheese Sauce	1 10 6		32.30			471	15,213.30
Potatoes, French Fry	4.5 lb 6		9.16			1550	14,198.00
Apple Juice, Individual	4 oz 96		8.79			1580	13,888.20
Beef Patty, Cooked	1.75 oz 92		19.27			3000	57,810.00
Waffles	1 oz 144		18.20			605	11,011.00
Pork Ribette	3 oz 72		17.29			629	10,875.41
Fish Nugget, Breaded	10 lb 1		15.26			663	10,117.38
Fruit Rollup, Cherry	.5 oz 96		18.88			430	8,118.40
Pork. Ground. Cooked	30 lb 1		40.51			122	4,942.22	U
Please return this form to the following address: . If there are any questions please contact Mr/Ms X tel: 1-800-YYY-YYYY or email: YYYY@ XXX.com

Part B: Instructions for completing the Oils And Fats Purchases Summary Form

Please find attached on the Oils And Fats Purchases Summary Form a summary of what we have transcribed and entered as your oils and fats purchases for the three month period, April, May and June. We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to:

1. Review what we have recorded as your fats and oils purchases. We want to know if we have a complete data set and whether what we have entered correctly reflects your deliveries of oils and fats.

2. Please place a check mark in column 7a if you use that oil for deep frying. If the item is used for both deep frying and other purposes make an estimate of the percentage used for deep frying and write that percentage in the column 7b headed ‘% of total’. If the item is used only for deep frying, write 100 in column 7b.

Again, feel free to call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding this summary. We are anxious to report data that are complete and correct so that the contribution of the School Lunch and Breakfast Programs can be accurately measured.

Thank you for your time.

Please return this form to the following address: XXXXXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXXXXX. If there are any questions please contact Mr/Ms XXX tel: 1-800-YYY-YYYY or email: [email protected]

MONTH: April	Part B: OILS AND FATS PURCHASES SUMMARY FORM –
DISTRICT NAME: Spring Hill									# 4001
1	2		3			4	5	6	7
Product Description	Unit Size		Unit cost			Number of units	Total	Rebate/ discount/ donation	Used for deep frying
									7a Check if used for deep frying	7b % of total
Oil, corn
Oil, soybean
Oil, peanut
Oil, cottonseed
Oil, canola
Oil, sunflower
Oil, vegetable
Shortening, vegetable
Shortening, soybean
Please return this form to the following address: . If there are any questions please contact Mr/Ms X tel: 1-800-YYY-YYYY or email: YYYY@ XXX.com