USDA Cooperative Agreement
Procurement Practices In School Meals: Making Real Change Work For Healthier Meals
Project Overview
USDA Cooperative Agreement Resources
Featured Resource
Feeding the Nation’s Children: Challenges and Opportunities Related to School Food Procurement Regulations
In collaboration with the Urban School Food Alliance, the Government Performance Lab (GPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School sought to map the current state of school food procurement rules and regulations at both the federal and state level. The GPL aimed to assess the overall impact of these regulations on (1) School Food Authorities (SFAs), especially as they navigate complex layers of regulations and (2) vendors, including producers, distributors, and processors, who may face barriers in participating in procurements.
The GPL’s research focused on a scan of state websites from a sample of 21 randomly chosen states across each of the seven USDA Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) regions. Because state websites are likely a core source of information for SFAs, the GPL’s research approach is representative of what SFAs, or other practitioners, might find when aiming to understand regulations.
Report prepared for the Urban School Food Alliance
February 2025
Join the Conversation
The latest news and headlines from Urban School Food Alliance
HuffPost: I Randomly Decided To Pay Off A School’s Lunch Debt. Then Something Incredible Happened.
May 5, 2025
The thing about witnessing a 7-year-old having their hot lunch tray yanked away and replaced with a cold sandwich...
Urban School Food Alliance Welcomes Aldine ISD, Leveraging Larger Collective Voice to Transform School Meals
Apr 28, 2025
Washington D.C. – April  28, 2025 – The Urban School Food Alliance (USFA), a powerhouse coalition of the nation’s...
Urban School Food Alliance Releases 2024 Annual Report Highlighting Progress in School Meal Programs Across the Nation
Feb 27, 2025
Washington D.C. – February 24, 2025 – The Urban School Food Alliance (USFA), a coalition of the nation’s largest...
AMNY: Op-Ed | A recipe for change: NYC’s journey to healthy, delicious school meals
Nov 5, 2024
From amNew York: "School food has long been synonymous with unappetizing meals. During my own school days, I...