Although concern about the quality of children's diets has mounted along with increases in obesity, little is known about the food they purchase in school from a la carte cafeteria sales, vending machines, snack bars, school stores, and other sources. This report describes methods that could be...

Programs using means tests to identify low-income households face a trade-off between promoting access and ensuring program integrity. In the case of the National School Lunch Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently implemented a pilot program to improve the accuracy of the process...

This report, the largest and most comprehensive examination of Americans who seek emergency food relief and the charitable network that serves them, notes that more than 23 million people received emergency hunger relief from Second Harvest in 2001, an increase of about 7.5 percent or nearly two...

The Child and Adult Care Food Program subsidizes nutritious meals served to eligible children and functionally impaired adults participating in family day care homes, day care facilities, emergency shelters, and afterschool programs. This report discusses the results of a pretest and pilot study...

This compendium includes 128 survey questions used in previous research to assess dietary knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for low-income populations over the age of 18. Questions on nine topics—including fruits and vegetables; grains, legumes, and fiber; variety; fat; calcium food...

This new four-page issue brief details two approaches to ensuring that free and reduced-price school meals go to eligible families. The brief finds that direct certification is useful in improving program access, although it could reach more eligible households. However, a pilot program that...

Available from Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis and Evaluation, Room 214, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302. (703) 305-2133.