SNMCS-II will further the precedent set by the first School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study (SNMCS). SNMCS was the first nationally representative, comprehensive assessment of the school meal programs since widespread changes were made to nutrition standards for school meals in school year 2012-2013. SNMCS assessed these critical issues in school year 2014-2015 and provided an opportunity to simultaneously examine the nutritional quality and cost of school meals.

SNMCS-II will build upon SNMCS to provide critical updated information about the nutritional quality, school food environment, cost, and acceptability of school meals for school year 2022-2023. SNMCS-II will examine program operations, the nutritional quality of school meals, school meal costs and revenues, plate waste, and students’ dietary intakes, collecting data from public School Food Authorities, schools, and students and their parents. Additionally, SNMCS-II will include an in-depth assessment of meal costs in five outlying areas – Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This broad range of data will help Federal, State, and local stakeholders better serve students.

Comparison of data from SNMCS and SNMCS-II will provide information about how the school meal programs and these key outcomes may have changed in the seven years since SNMCS was conducted. SNMCS-II continues the long-standing commitment of FNS and of the USDA to periodically assess the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, and will provide a comprehensive picture of the school meal programs in school year 2022-2023. The study will not conduct audits or monitoring visits, and will not impact meal payments or meal program benefits to participating School Food Authorities, schools, or households. 

Mathematica has partnered with Decision Information Resources and Insight Policy Research for SNMCS-II.