To: [SELECTED SFA DIRECTORS]
Subject: Study of School Food Authority (SFA) Procurement Practices
Dear [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]:
We would like to remind you that [NAME OF SFA] has been selected for participation in the Study of School Food Authority (SFA) Procurement Practices. The study is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) by 2M Research (2M) and its partner, Mathematica Policy Research (Mathematica). This study is one of the first FNS studies to comprehensively examine SFA procurement practices related to food service management companies, cooperative purchasing agreements, recordkeeping, local purchases, and food purchase specifications for Child Nutrition program meals served in schools. You are the voice for SFAs like yours, so your response to this study is especially important.
Your role in the study is to provide information about your SFA’s procurement practices by completing the SFA Procurement Practices Web Survey. This is a web survey that you and/or designated members of your staff will complete online. We estimate that the web survey will take approximately 90 minutes to complete. You can access the survey at: [Unique Link to survey].
We encourage you to complete the web survey before XX/XX/20XX. Additional information and answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) can be found here: [Link to FAQ PDF].
For your convenience, this unique URL will open your web survey and does not require any login information. Remember, you may save your responses and return to complete the web survey at any time during the data collection period. If a colleague will be working with you to complete the web survey, they can use the same link. Respondents will be directed to the last completed survey question/section when reopening the web survey. If needed, survey respondents can simply navigate to their relevant section to answer and review questions.
Your cooperation is encouraged under Section 305 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA), which states:
States, State educational agencies, local educational agencies, schools, institutions, facilities, and contractors participating in programs authorized under this Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C 1771 et seq.) shall cooperate with officials and contractors acting on behalf of the Secretary, in the conduct of evaluations and studies under those Acts.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the 2M survey help desk anytime by either calling (toll-free) 1-844-250-1911 or emailing [email protected] (or simply reply to this email). For planning purposes, a printable version of the web survey and FAQ documents can also be found here: [Link to survey PDF] [Link to FAQ PDF].
Sincerely,
Dr. Steven Garasky
Senior Study Director | 2M Research Project Director
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to complete the survey is estimated to average three 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.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Molly Matthews-Ewald, PhD, MS |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-21 |