Local Food for Local Kids: Reducing Barriers to Local Foods In Montana Schools.
Over the summer of 2020, two researchers from Mission West Community Development Partners and National Center for Appropriate Technology completed in-depth interviews with public school food service directors. Interviewers used a semi-structured format in order to provide the participants with enough freedom to speak conversationally while also covering specific thematic
areas. Each question included a number of additional probing questions which the interviewers could use to elicit a more detailed response. The final interview guide contained 16 questions that were organized thematically (see Appendix A). The first set of questions were about the school districts’ food service operations, the second set of questions covered procurement, the third set of questions related to the challenges of procuring local foods, and the final set was about opportunities related to local procurement.