0584-0606 Pilot -TurniptheBeet Award_081516

Memorandum
Date:

August 15, 2016

To:

Stephanie Tatham, OMB Desk Officer

Through:

Ruth Brown, United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief
Information Officer

From:

Lynnette Thomas
Food and Nutrition Service, Branch Chief, Planning & Regulatory Affairs

Re:

Under Approved Generic OMB Clearance No. 0584-0606 Request Approval to
pilot test a new “Turnip the Beet” Award for High Quality Meals in the Summer
Meal Program

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
requesting approval to conduct a pilot test under Approved Generic OMB Clearance No. 05840606, and gauge interest in a new Turnip the Beet Award for higher quality meals through FNS’
Summer Meal Programs. The award will recognize outstanding Summer Meal Program sponsors
across the nation that offer appetizing, appealing, and nutritious meals during the summer
months. The following information is provided for your review:
1. Title of the Project: Pilot Project--Turnip the Beet Award for High Quality Meals in Summer
Meal Program
2. Control Number: 0584-0606, Expires 03/31/2019
3. Public Affected by this Project:
Summer Meal Program sponsors, including Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors
and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsors
State Agency contacts for the Summer Meals Program
4. Number of Respondents:
In 2015, there were 6,700 Summer Meals Program sponsors nationwide FNS is anticipating a
response rate of 5 percent or less, bringing the total number of estimated respondents to 335.
FNS is conducting this pilot program to gauge interest in the award and assess how well the
award program incentivizes sponsors to improve the quality of the meals they serve.
5. Time Needed Per Response:
1.5 hours per nomination, including time spent by nominee and State Agency contact
6. Total Burden Hours on Public:

(a)

Affected Public

Summer Meal Program
Sponsors
State Agency Contacts

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

Frequency
of
Response

Est. Total
Annual
Responses
per
Respondent
(c x d)

Hours per
Response

Total
Burden
Hours (e x
f)

ID

Instrument

No.
Respondents

A

Nomination form

335

1

335

1

335

A

Nomination form

52

1

52

.5

26

387

1

387

1.5

361

Subtotal
Total

Total burden hours on public: 361 hours.
7. Project Purpose, Methodology, and Formative Research Design:
Background
FNS would like to pilot test a new award program to encourage and recognize outstanding
Summer Meal Program sponsors who work hard to offer free, high quality meals to children and
teens during the summer months when school is not in session. The Turnip the Beet award
would be presented at three levels--bronze, silver, and gold--to sponsors providing meals that are
appetizing, appealing, and nutritious during the summer months. The award is open to all
sponsors across the nation, including Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors and
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsors. All
nominated sponsors must be in compliance with SFSP or NSLP/SSO regulations, as applicable.
Sponsors may submit a self-nomination or be nominated by another party. The sponsor or other
party must fill out the short 2016 Turnip the Beet Nomination Form and submit a one month
menu to their Summer Meals State Agency contact. Menus should describe whether fruits and
vegetables are fresh, frozen, canned or dried, as well as identify whole grain-rich and local food
items. If a menu includes whole grain-rich items, sponsors must submit supporting
documentation, such as an ingredient list, product formulation statement or recipe. Sponsors may
choose to submit other supporting documents to further demonstrate the quality of their meals,
such as news clips about the program, photos, testimonials, or invoices of local food purchases.
Nomination forms will be submitted to State Agencies, which have their own submission due
dates. The State Agency contacts will ensure the sponsor is in good standing with a clean review
(no major findings or all corrective actions are complete and implemented) during their last
compliance review, and the sponsor was not found seriously deficient in the past two years, at
the time of the application, and has never been terminated from the Summer Meal Programs. The
State Agency can also provide an optional statement of support for the nominee.
All nominations must be forwarded by the State Agency contact to their Regional Office by
November 4, 2016. FNS will notify the winners in writing in winter 2017.
2

Purpose
The purpose of the pilot is to encourage Summer Meal Program sponsors to offer higher quality,
nutritious meals that make an impact on children’s healthy development. Conducting a pilot will
allow FNS to gauge sponsor and State Agency interest in the award, assess the nomination
processes, evaluate the award criteria, and determine the award’s impact on incentivizing
sponsors to offer higher quality meals. Information from this pilot year will be used to make any
needed adjustments before continuing the award program in future years.
Methodology/Research Design
Nominations that clearly illustrate how the meals are appetizing, appealing and nutritious will
receive the highest consideration. Sponsors will be evaluated based on information provided in a
short summary, including 1) how the meals are culturally appropriate and 2) age-appropriate for
the population being served; 3) whether taste tests or another tool is used to introduce and gather
feedback on new foods and menu items; 4) how healthy foods are marketed; and 5) any food and
nutrition-based activity that aligns with the meal served. Sponsors that use Team Nutrition
resources at their Summer Sites will receive bonus points. Specific details will be given greater
value than generalities.
In addition, nominations for Turnip the Beet Awards will be evaluated based on the following
criteria:
 Seasonal and locally produced foods are served as part of the reimbursable meal
 Bonus: Local foods are identified and promoted through menu, poster,
newsletter, or other form of communication
 The menu is at least a 2 week cycle menu with entrees repeating 2 times or less per
month
 Bonus: Menu includes some hot food items
 The menu includes a variety of colors and textures
 Different fruits and vegetables are served throughout the week
 Bonus: At least 75% of fruit and vegetable servings are fresh
 Whole grain-rich foods are served to meet the grains component 50% of the time
 Sweet grains (e.g. cookies, cakes, brownies, fruit turnovers, doughnuts, granola bars,
toaster pastries, or sweet rolls) are served only 2 times per week
 Bonus: Sweet grains are not served
 Only low-fat (1%) or fat-free dairy products (including milk, yogurt, and cheese) are
served. If 1 year old children attend the summer site, they are served whole milk
 If flavored milk is served, it is fat-free
 Water is available at no cost
Design/Sampling Procedures
Because this project involves voluntary award nominations, there are no sampling procedures for
this submission.
Recruitment and Consent

3

Nominees will not be recruited for this project, and instead will consent to participation through
their voluntary submission of the nomination form.
Incentive
No incentives will be provided to encourage participation.
Data Analysis, Outcomes/Findings
Submissions will be evaluated by an FNS review team using transparent criteria shared with all
Summer Meals Program sponsors in the call for nominations.
All bronze, silver, and gold winners will be featured in FNS’ Summer Newsletter and receive an
award certificate. Silver and gold winners will also be featured on USDA’s blog. Finally, gold
winners will be identified as a Turnip the Beet winner on FNS’s Summer Site Finder
(http://www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks).
After completion of the pilot, FNS will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the process and
make recommendations for adjustments in future years.
8. Confidentiality:
The nomination form includes the following disclosure statement to notify nominees that the
Agency will be using the information for promotion purposes:
“The Agency has the right to reproduce, publish or otherwise use the data in the application
for this award, and authorize others to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the data in the
application for this award for Federal purposes.”
9. Federal Costs: There is no cost to the Federal government.
10. Research Tools/Instruments:
• Attachment A: 2016 Turnip the Beet Nomination Form

4