Amendment 0001 - School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study

Solicitation Number: AG-3198-S-12-0015 Notice Type: Sources Sought SCHOOL NUTRITION AND MEAL COST STUDY This is a Sources Sought Notice for market research purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). A solicitation is not being issued at this time and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service intend to issue a competitive procurement for advisory and assistance services to conduct a national School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. Section 208 of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law No. 111-296, henceforth "HHFKA") requires the Secretary to issue Nutrition Standards for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). The Nutrition Standards (7 CFR Parts 210 and 220) and other requirements of HHFKA change the way in which School Food Authorities (SFAs) plan, offer and price meals to participants, improve the composition of meals and their nutrient quality, restrict and alter the pricing of competitive foods sold in schools, adjust eligibility for free and reduced price meal reimbursements, and increase reimbursements for NSLP lunches. These changes are expected to have significant effects on SFA operations, meal quality, and costs. With the implementation of the new meals, the Food and Nutrition Service needs to determine the success of school meals meeting the new program goals, the cost of serving healthful meals acceptable to children, and the relationship of school menus and competitive foods to children's participation and diets. FNS plans the study to examine the relationship among: - School environments and school food service operations - Nutritional quality of meals offered and served - Costs to produce reimbursable meals - Student participation - Participant characteristics - Participant dietary intakes - Participant satisfaction with school meals - Participant attitudes toward school lunch and breakfast programs FNS plans to conduct the Primary data collections in SY 2014-2015. FNS is seeking firms with the capability of providing a team including all of the following: - A dedicated project director who can deliver high quality work, adhere to project schedules, keep costs within budget, manage the work of many professionals on many tasks simultaneously, and contribute knowledge and understanding of FNS programs. - Staff experienced in highly technical sampling techniques to obtain representative samples of FNS programs and/or participants and the development of corresponding sample weights for complex sample designs. - Staff experienced with developing comprehensive national study designs to address numerous complex interrelated research questions, questionnaires for computer assisted data collection or hard-copy completion and OMB Information Collection Packages. - Experienced survey managers who can recruit a sufficient number of capable data collectors to provide information nationwide and over a short period of time; can train and monitor data collectors' performance to collect high quality data and minimize non-response. - Experienced data collectors and interviewers who are proficient at collecting information from a wide variety of sources (e.g., State agencies, school administrative staff, foodservice staff, families with school-aged children, etc.) using a variety of data collection techniques (e.g., CATI/CAPI data collection, on-site observation, record abstraction, etc.) - Staff experienced with and demonstrated proficiency in using analytic methods, including mathematical modeling, multivariate regression analysis; and descriptive and inferential statistics. Staff with proficiency in manipulating large complex databases, using mainstream software packages, synthesizing results from multiple research sources, performing literature searches and reviews, conducting nutrient, food group and other complex analyses; statistical adjustment for complex sample design; imputation; non-response bias analysis and correction; and creating complex, large scale databases accessible to any proficient database programmer. - Staff who have the necessary skills and experience to produce high quality, well edited reports which may be targeted to technical readers or to policy officials. Staff who can produce briefing materials (including PowerPoint presentations) and present study findings for technical and/or policy staff. - Staff who have knowledge of the operational and financial management aspects of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program including special assistance alternatives, program integrity issues, nutritional quality of school meals offered, and issues related to participation in these programs. The firm must demonstrate how it would design a study that addresses all of the areas identified above. Of particular interest is the study design component that would be used to examine the impacts of the Nutrition Standards on program participation, nutritional quality of meals and costs. The firm should identify what outcome measures would be used and how external factors would be controlled to identify impacts attributable to the Nutrition Standards for the NSLP and SBP. Interested parties should submit capability statements that demonstrate its ability to provide the appropriate staff experience and skill set required and the technical approach they would propose to conduct a national School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. In addition, interested parties must include a description of past experience and successful completion and publication of at least two (2) similar projects consistent in scope, size and complexity with this requirement which has been performed in the past three years and past performance ratings on these projects. The Statement of Capabilities should also include: - Contractor Name - Address - Point of Contact (POC) - POC phone number and email address - DUNS number, and - Business status (i.e., large/small business, disadvantaged, Hub Zone, woman-owed, etc.) Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of offeror submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information. The information obtained from responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and future RFP. No questions will be entertained or comment responded to by the Government. Offerors capable of providing these services should submit the information requested above via e-mail to Christina.carter-kurant@fns.usda.gov no later than 2:00 PM EDT, on Friday, April 27, 2012. Please limit the length of the packages to 20 pages. Packages over 20 pages will not be evaluated.