Attachment M Invitation and Reminders to SFAs
Date:
Subject: USDA’s Farm to School Census
To: School Food Authority Food Service Directors
USDA Headquarters and your State Office need your help in conducting the USDA Farm to School Census of all public school district, BIE-funded, and tribal School Food Authorities (SFAs).
The Census will provide an important national baseline of how many SFAs are purchasing locally produced food for school meal programs or conducting other farm to school activities such as bringing students to farms and farmers into classrooms, teaching students how to cook locally grown food, and operating edible school gardens.
This information collection is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 427 and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 0536-XXXX, exp. [insert date]). Your participation is voluntary. The survey is being conducted by USDA’s Farm to School Program, in collaboration with the Economic Research Service (ERS).
We know this year has been even busier than usual, and we deeply appreciate your time. Your participation is important even if you do not currently have any farm to school activities.
Your participation can make a real difference in USDA’s allocations of grant funding and technical assistance for farm to school programs in our State. These programs connect schools and farms to support local, regional, and tribal economies and inspire students’ enthusiasm for healthier food.
Please click or cut-and-paste the following link to open the Farm to School Census questionnaire https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxxx. If you would rather complete the questionnaire on paper, please print out the attached copy of the questionnaire, fill it out by hand and submit via fax to [insert number]. If you need assistance, call the Farm to School Census Help Line at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
The questionnaire has been kept as short as possible, and should take about 20 minutes if you have a local foods procurement program and only 5 minutes if you do not have one. Please complete the questionnaire even if you are not currently purchasing any locally produced food. This is essential to measuring the percentage of SFAs that ARE buying locally produced food.
A few questions ask about the total value of food purchases from 2011-12, and what percent of those purchases were locally produced. The questionnaire asks for an estimate; we do not expect you to spend hours compiling data. If you have already compiled that information, it will be helpful to have it handy before you start.
You don’t need to complete the survey in one sitting—your responses will be saved if your browser is set to allow cookies, if you use the same computer each session, and if you clicked “Next” to store your data for that page. When you exit before completing the survey and re-enter later, you will land on the next page to be completed—keep going and be sure to click “Next” to store your responses.
If you prefer to disable your browser’s cookies, you can still take the survey, but you won’t be able to exit and re-enter the survey (if you exit without completing the survey, your responses won’t be saved).
The ERS website does not collect, store, or share any information except that needed to facilitate the survey transaction. Please see the Privacy Policy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To review the privacy policy of the SurveyMonkey survey instrument, or for more information about how cookies are used by SurveyMonkey (or how to remove or disable browser cookies), please click on the following links:
SurveyMonkey’s privacy policy < http://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/policy/privacy-policy/>
How SurveyMonkey uses cookies < http://help.surveymonkey.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5168/kw/cookie%20information?q=cookie+information>
The questionnaire does not include any personal information. However, we must inform you that your responses are not confidential and are not covered by the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002. Your responses will be used to create a publicly accessible map showing purchases of local food by SFAs. USDA will treat all information gathered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552).
Please also note that USDA has requested contact information for SFAs in each state in order to construct a list frame to identify which SFAs have responded to the Farm to School Census and to contact a sample of non-respondents to request completion of an abridged set of questions. The list frame will be retained after the Farm to School Census is completed for use in frame building and other statistical activities conducted by USDA or other federal statistical agencies.
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With sincere appreciation,
State Child Nutrition Director
Date:
Subject: USDA’s Farm to School Census
To: School Food Authority Food Service Directors
One week ago, USDA launched the Farm to School Census in our State, and I asked Food Service Directors to complete the questionnaire even if your school or district is not currently involved in any activities related to local food or edible school gardens. I want to express my sincere appreciation to all those Directors who have completed the questionnaire.
This information collection is authorized by 7 U.S.C. 427 and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 0536-XXXX, exp. [insert date]). Your participation is voluntary.
If you have not already completed the questionnaire, please complete it today by linking to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxxx and following the directions. We need a response even if your school or district is not involved in Farm to School activities. For schools and districts that have more active Farm to School programs, the questionnaire should take about 20 minutes and only 5 minutes for those that do not.
If you experience technical difficulties or would rather complete the questionnaire by fax, please print out the attached copy of the questionnaire, fill it out by hand and submit via fax to [insert number].
If you need assistance, please call the Farm to School Census Help Line at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
With sincere appreciation,
State Child Nutrition Director
Date:
Subject: USDA’s Farm to School Census
To: District School Food Service Directors
I am following up on a request for your response to the Farm to School Census sent to you on (insert date). We understand the enormous demands on your time.
This information collection is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 427 and is approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 0536-XXXX, exp. [insert date]). Your participation is voluntary.
If you haven’t had time to complete the questionnaire, please complete it today by linking to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxxx and following the directions.
If you experience technical difficulties or would rather complete the questionnaire by fax, please print out the attached copy of the questionnaire, fill it out by hand and submit via fax to [insert number].
If you need assistance, please call the Farm to School Census Help Line at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
If your school or district is not involved in Farm to School activities, the questionnaire is very brief. For schools or districts that have more active Farm to School programs, the questionnaire should take about 20 minutes and only 5 minutes for those that do not.
We deeply appreciate your participation in the Census. Your participation can make a real difference in USDAs allocations of grant funding and technical assistance for Farm to School programs in our State that connect schools and farms to support local and regional economies and inspire students’ enthusiasm for healthier food.
With best wishes,
State Child Nutrition Director
Date:
Subject: USDA’s Farm to School Census
To: District School Food Service Directors
It’s not too late! Today is the last day to respond to the Farm to School Census.
Your participation is vital, and we understand the enormous demands on your time.
This information collection is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 427 and is approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 0536-XXXX, exp. [insert date]). Your participation is voluntary.
If you haven’t had time to complete the questionnaire, please complete it today by linking to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxxx and following the directions.
If you experience technical difficulties or would rather complete the questionnaire by fax, please print out the attached copy of the questionnaire, fill it out by hand and submit via fax to [insert number].
If you need assistance, please call the Farm to School Census Help Line at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
If your school or district is not involved in Farm to School activities, the questionnaire will only take a few minutes! For schools or districts that have more active Farm to School programs, the questionnaire should take about 20 minutes.
We deeply appreciate your participation in the Census. Your participation can make a real difference in USDAs allocations of grant funding and technical assistance for Farm to School programs in our State that connect schools and farms to support local and regional economies and inspire students’ enthusiasm for healthier food.
If you haven’t had time before today, please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire right now at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/xxxxxxx.
With best wishes,
State Child Nutrition Director
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | kralston |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-25 |