National Nutrition Month

Addressing Food Insecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research, in its study Food Security in the U.S. – Key Statistics & Graphics, defines food insecurity and identifies two levels of food security – low and very low. (See infographic.)

According to the USDA, food insecurity means that at times during the year, some households experience uncertainty about having food or being able to obtain enough food to meet the needs of everyone in the home, either because they lacked money or food resources. In 2023, 17.9% of households with children in the United States were food insecure.

Solutions: Food and Nutrition Services Programs Answer the Call

Sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month® is observed each March to highlight the importance of developing healthy eating and exercise habits and of making informed choices about food.

This observance also focuses attention on the role of food and nutrition services (FNS), such as the Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP), the Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP), and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), in providing nutritious meals to children (and adults) in need. And the reporting on these programs makes a strong argument and a solid case for the benefits they provide.

According to USDA in its report on CACFP, which:

“In fiscal year 2023, approximately 4.4 million children and about 109,000 adults received CACFP meals and snacks on an average day. In that year, the program served a total of about 1.7 billion meals at a cost of $3.9 billion.”

Finally, the USDA report on SFSP states:

“…SFSP provides free meals to children in low-income areas through eligible organizations, primarily in the summer months when most schools are closed for instruction. In July 2023, the month when SFSP operations typically peak, the program provided meals to…children each day across more than 35,000 sites.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in its report on NSLP programs said:

“NSLP is the Nation’s second-largest food and nutrition assistance program. The program operates in about 100,000 schools and provides billions of meals to tens of millions of children and adolescents each year.”

Food and Nutrition Service Programs: Complex Challenges

Developing and implementing a nutrition program, while meeting regulatory requirements, is no simple mandate. State agencies are charged with running these programs at local community levels, while meeting federal requirements, which translates into complexity and, sometimes, shortfalls in the program that negatively affect the at-risk populations they are designed to serve.

Programs must meet requirements for serving size, nutrition levels, food delivery, and timeliness, and the centers themselves must also meet certain standards and provide proper documentation. All requirements must be satisfied for the programs to pass legal muster and stand up to regulatory scrutiny.

That’s why state agencies need a trusted partner to help navigate the complexity of these issues and standards.

How Myers and Stauffer Can Help

Since 1977, we have worked exclusively with local, state, and federal government health and human-services agencies to help them accomplish their most critical goals for the nation’s most vulnerable people.

In 2018, we started contracting with state agencies to perform comprehensive CACFP and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) administrative reviews (ARs) of participating organizations, as well as consulting services to the state agencies.

We currently provide these administrative review services to multiple states to ensure state and federal requirements are met. In fact, we have completed more than 1,000 CACFP and 100 SFSP ARs. We understand child nutrition program eligibility requirements, nutrition standards and meal components, documentation protocol, civil rights compliance, claims verification, cash management, allowable administrative costs, and program costs. Our contracts with our very first FNS client have continued year after year, which demonstrates our clients’ satisfaction and reliance on our high-quality CACFP and SFSP AR expertise.

Based on the strength of that experience and our performance for our clients, we recently won work on an NSLP engagement conducting procurement reviews of school food authority (SFA) NSLP procurements.

We are prepared to put that skill and expertise to work for you. Contact a member of our team today.