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[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 200 (Monday, October 18, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63798-63800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26083]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Economic Research Service

Notice of Intent To Request New Information Collection

AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to send 
comments regarding any aspect of this proposed information collection. 
This is a new collection to develop a Sampling Frame of Farm to School 
efforts.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received on or before 
December 17, 2010 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Katherine 
Ralston, Food Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, 1800 M St., NW., Room N2163, Washington, DC 
20036-5801. Comments may also be submitted via fax to the attention of 
Katherine Ralston at 202-694-5663 or via e-mail to 
[email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Economic Research Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 1800 M St., NW., Room 
N2163, Washington, DC 20036-5801.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the

[[Page 63799]]

proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond, including use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Katherine Ralston at the address in the preamble. Tel. 202-694-5463.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Census Survey of Farm to School Initiatives.
    OMB Number: 0536-XXXX.
    Expiration Date: Three years from the date of approval.
    Type of Request: New collection.

Abstract

    The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the 
2008 Farm Bill, amended the National School Lunch Act to allow 
institutions receiving funds through that act and the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 to apply a geographic preference to the procurement of 
unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products. This 
amendment provides local institutions more flexibility and increases 
opportunities for USDA to promote local foods in the school meal 
programs. While this part of the 2008 Farm Bill has yet to be funded, 
USDA has taken action to explore the issue through the Farm to School 
Initiative. USDA recognizes the growing interest among school districts 
and communities to incorporate regionally and locally produced farm 
foods into school nutrition programs supported by USDA. USDA school 
nutrition programs include the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), 
the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Special Milk Program (SMP), 
which funds milk for students without access to other meal programs, 
and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), which funds the 
purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables provided as free snacks to 
students in selected schools with the States' highest percentages of 
students certified for free and reduced price meals.
    USDA is supporting Farm to School efforts through a number of 
initiatives, and continues to look for ways to help facilitate this 
important connection. In late 2009, USDA established ``Know Your 
Farmer, Know Your Food,'' an initiative which focuses on the importance 
of understanding where our food comes from and how it gets to our 
plates. In response to the growing demand for Farm to School 
activities, the ``USDA Farm to School Team'' was developed out of the 
``Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food'' Initiative.
    Successful Farm to School efforts have the potential to benefit 
multiple stakeholders, including the schools, the farmers, and the 
children. Through these efforts, schools are able to bring fresh, 
locally grown foods to school meal programs, while local farmers are 
able to attract new business by selling fruits and vegetables to 
schools in their area. In addition, activities surrounding Farm to 
School often help children learn essential lessons about how farm fresh 
produce is grown and its role in a nutritious, healthful diet. 
Introducing local farm products in both the classroom and the cafeteria 
allows children to experience the value and appeal of a diet rich in 
fresh fruits and vegetables. Many Farm to School activities include 
bringing students to farms and farmers into classrooms, as well as 
creating school gardens that both teach students about agriculture and 
support the meal program.
    While anecdotal evidence and case studies suggest that Farm to 
School activities improve students' nutrition and local economies, more 
representative objective research to measure these benefits and 
identify factors associated with success and cost-effectiveness are 
hampered by the lack of data. Surveys of school food authorities (SFAs) 
have included questions to indicate whether the SFA purchases locally, 
but the surveys have not included questions about the nature of the 
activities, and the samples of SFAs have not been large enough to yield 
a sufficient sample of SFAs implementing Farm to School activities for 
statistical analysis.
    The information to be collected by the Farm to School Census Survey 
is necessary to develop a stratified sampling frame for more detailed 
future surveys. Currently, the National Farm to School Network, through 
the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, 
maintains the only national database of Farm to School initiatives. 
This database is created by information entered by programs directly on 
to the National Farm to School Network's Web site, and as a result is 
not a complete representation of Farm to School activity in the 
country. The Census Survey will contact 50 State agriculture 
departments, 50 State education departments, 50 State Farm to School 
coordinators, and 50 State cooperative extension offices to develop a 
list of school districts involved in Farm to School activities and 
their contact information. School districts identified on this list 
will be contacted to the following collect information on key 
characteristics:
    [diams] Contact information, including county, school district name 
and zip code.
    [diams] School nutrition programs available in the SFA or school 
(NSLP, SBP, SMP, and/or FFVP).
    [diams] When the efforts started.
    [diams] Types of activities:
     [cir] Local foods week or harvest of the month.
     [cir] Use of geographic preference in procurement.
     [cir] Direct local procurement for meals and/or snacks, including 
snacks supported by the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
     [cir] Use of commodity dollars for locally sourced items through 
State Farm to School program.
     [cir] Requests for local sourcing through Department of Defense 
produce procurement (DoD Fresh).
     [cir] School gardens for snacks, meals or other use.
     [cir] Curriculum and classroom education out of classroom 
activities, farm tours.
     [cir] Agriscience programs.
    [diams] Number of schools participating.
    [diams] Number of children participating, if not all.
    [diams] Number of farmers/distributors supplying local product.
    [diams] Most common foods purchased locally.
    [diams] Requirement of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) 
certification.
    [diams] Level of external grant funding received specific for Farm 
to School related efforts.
    Information on other potential stratification characteristics will 
be obtained by matching data from the Common Core Data to the database 
of SFAs implementing Farm to School activities and other geo-coded 
data.
    Data collection instruments will be kept as simple and respondent-
friendly as possible. Responses are voluntary and will be made publicly 
available only with permission of the respondent.
    Affected Public: Respondent groups include: (1) State agriculture 
department officials, (2) State education department officials, (3) 
State cooperative extension officials, (4) State Farm to School 
coordinators, and (5) local Farm to School coordinators.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The estimated number of 
respondents

[[Page 63800]]

for the sampling frame includes: (1) 50 State agriculture department 
representatives, (2) 50 State department of education representatives, 
(3) 50 State cooperative extension representatives, (4) up to 50 State 
Farm to School coordinators, and (5) up to 1,000 local Farm to School 
coordinators. Ninety percent of each group is expected to respond. 
Estimates of the percentages of respondents who will agree to complete 
the interview are based on previous experience with developing the 
currently available database of farm to school initiatives.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 20 for State-level 
respondents, 10 for local-level respondents. Estimated responses per 
respondent are as follows: Up to 200 State officials will be asked to 
identify local school districts which participate in Farm to School 
activities and provide contact information. An average of 20 school 
districts per respondent will be identified. An estimated 1,000 school 
districts will be contacted to obtain information on 10 key 
characteristics. (Note: identified school districts will overlap, so 
that redundant phone information serves as validation).
    Estimated Total Responses: 14,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: We estimate the time per response as 
0.05 hours (3 minutes) for State-level respondents to provide contact 
information for each school district within the state, and 0.25 hours 
(15 minutes) per question for local-level respondents to provide 
information on each key characteristic, on average. These estimates of 
respondent burden are based on experience with previous data collection 
efforts for Farm to School initiatives.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 2,700 hours. See the table 
below for the estimated total annual burden for each instrument.

                                                Reporting Burden
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                                                                                                     Estimated
                                     Estimated                                       Estimated     total annual
           Description               number of     Responses per   Total annual   average number     hours of
                                    respondents     respondent       responses     of hours per      response
                                                                                     response         burden
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Request for programs in the                  200              20           4,000             .05             200
 state..........................
Key Characteristics.............           1,000              10          10,000             .25           2,500
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    Total responding burden.....           1,200  ..............          14,000  ..............           2,700
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    Dated: September 15, 2010.
Katherine R. Smith,
Administrator, Economic Research Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-26083 Filed 10-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-18-P
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