The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) provided schools and districts that predominately serve low-income children with a new option for meal certification. Under the Community Eligibility Provision, schools do not collect or process meal applications for free and reduced-price meals served in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Schools must serve all meals at no cost with any costs in excess of the Federal reimbursement paid from non-Federal sources. The evaluation, mandated by HHFKA, examined the implementation and impacts of the Community Eligibility Provision.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) formally established a Farm to School Program within USDA to improve access to local foods in schools. In order to establish realistic goals with regard to increasing the availability of local foods in schools, in 2013, USDA conducted the first nationwide Farm to School Census (the Census). In 2015, USDA conducted a second Farm to School Census to measure progress towards reaching this goal.