USDA Strategic Plan and FNS

All Federal Departments are required to prepare five-year strategic plans that identify their key goals and objectives, their strategies for attaining them, and measures of progress. USDA's most recent strategic plan, covering 2005-2010, was released in June 2006. It is available on the web at http://www.ocfo.usda.gov/usdasp/sp2005/sp2005.pdf. 

USDA’s Strategic Goal 5, “Improve the Nation’s Nutrition and Health,” sets out the major objectives for the 15 Federal nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service – programs designed to work together to improve food security and diet quality for children and low-income people throughout the United States.  Goal 5 includes performance measures that assess progress with regard to these outcomes, as well key indicators of effective program management and stewardship of Federal funds.

The work of the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services mission area is captured under Goal 5’s three supporting objectives.

Objective 5.1: Improve Access to Nutritious Food, representing FNS’s efforts to reduce and prevent hunger by providing food-based nutrition assistance program benefits.

Objective 5.2: Promote Healthier Eating Habits and Lifestyles, representing the work of FNS, along with its sister agency, the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), to support and encourage healthful diets through state-of-the art, science-based nutrition guidance and information, and strong nutrient standards and nutrition education.

Objective 5.3: Improve Nutrition Assistance Program Management and Customer Service, representing FNS’s ongoing commitment to maximize the accuracy of benefits issued and the efficiency and effectiveness of program operations, and to minimize fraud.

USDA's strategic plan provides an organizing structure for a corporate priority-setting process that promotes focused and effective management of scarce administrative resources.  To ensure accountability, these priorities are linked to the performance standards of Agency staff.  FNS planned priorities for FY 2007 include:

USDA Goal 5 - General

• Farm Bill Reauthorization

USDA Objective 5.1: Improve Access to Nutritious Food

• Increasing Food Stamp Program Access
• Summer Nutrition Access
• Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

USDA Objective 5.2: Promote Healthier Eating Habits and Lifestyles

• Implementation of 2005 Dietary Guidelines in Program Policy
• Enhancing Nutrition Education and Promotion

USDA Objective 5.3: Improve Nutrition Assistance Program Management and Customer Service

• Improving Food Stamp Integrity
• Improving Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Management
• Building a New FNS

Click here for a brochure explaining FNS's planning system, its priorities for the current fiscal year, and their relationship to the USDA Strategic Plan 2005-2010.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Annual Performance Plans and Reports

Each year, the Department prepares as part of its budget an Annual Performance Plan (APP) that explains the annual performance goals, derived from the five-year strategic plan, that each intends to pursue for the year, and links them to agency resources. Click on the links below to download the USDA Budget Summary and APP in PDF format:

USDA also prepares Performance and Accountability Reports (PARs) for submission to the President and Congress that document and assess program performance in relation to the goals set in the APP. Click on the links below to download these reports in PDF format:

We welcome your comments or questions about our planning system. Click here to send an e-mail to FNS.

Last modified: 12/04/2008