State CN Directors, State Agriculture Directors, and SFA Directors for Public Schools (SLT)

APPENDIX C.1

Census Recruitment Email from FNS to State Child Nutrition Directors

OMB Number: 0584-0646

Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Dear [STATE CN DIRECTOR]:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has contracted with [contractor name] to conduct the 2023 Farm to School Census (2023 Census). FNS conducts the Farm to School Census every four years to provide national, State and school food authority (SFA) information about the use of local foods in schools and other farm to school activities.

The 2023 Census will survey all public and private SFAs that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in all 50 States, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C. Like past Farm to School Censuses, the 2023 Census will be made public in a final report and on a public website (see https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov/ for findings from the 2023 Farm to School Census).

Data collection for the 2023 Census will begin in Fall of 2023. SFA directors will be asked to complete one short web survey (sent to them via email) in order to provide information about their participation in farm to school activities. Since you are the main point of contact for SFAs in your State or territory regarding Child Nutrition (CN) Programs, FNS requests your help with the following items.

1. Soon you will receive an email from [contractor name] asking you to send current contact information for all SFAs (public, charter, and private) in your State or territory. We ask that you reply promptly to this request with an Excel file (or let us know if you’d prefer to provide the data another way). Better contact information for SFA directors will increase the State’s response rate, making your results more reflective of the farm to school participation in your State.

2. [Contractor name] will also send you a template email and FAQ document that introduces the 2023 Census to SFAs. We ask that you send this email to all SFA directors in your State or territory. Abt will then directly send the SFAs a link to the 2023 Census.

3. We ask that you send two Census reminder emails to all public, charter, and private SFA directors in your State agency during the data collection period. [Contractor name] will provide you with the text and a schedule for sending the emails. [Contractor name] will also send reminder emails throughout the data collection period to SFA directors who have not yet completed the Census.

4. We’d greatly appreciate if you could include information or reminders about the 2023 Census in your usual communications with SFA directors, such as newsletters or emails. We will also periodically share with you the list of SFAs who have not completed the Census so that you can do additional follow-up as you are able and willing to.

The study team will be available to answer any questions that you may have. You can contact them via email at [study email address] or toll-free at [study phone number] (from 9 am to 9 pm ET).

Thank you in advance for your assistance in maximizing participation in the 2023 Farm to School Census!

Sincerely,

Cindy Long

Deputy Administrator

Child Nutrition Programs

USDA Food and Nutrition Service

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service in understanding and tracking farm to school engagement. This is a mandatory collection and FNS will use the information to set priorities for USDA outreach and technical support. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. 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 0584-0646. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 0.0668 hours 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. 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 Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22306 ATTN: PRA (0584-0646). Do not return the completed form to this address.