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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
between

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (DHHS)
and its agencies:

The National Cancer Institute

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)

and

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)
and its agencies:

Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
• Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
• Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP)

Research, Education, and Economics
• Agricultural Reserach Service (ARS)
• Economic Research Service (ERS)
• Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)

Marketing and Regulatory Programs
• Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to establish a general framework for cooperation between the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies, and the Department of Agriculture and its agencies. (See complete list of cooperating agencies above.)

The cooperating agencies propose to work together to encourage and promote the 5 A Day for Better Health Program and to encourage all Americans to eat 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. To advance this vision, NCI and participating CDC and USDA agencies will utilize and strengthen their existing programs, advance the capacity for comprehensive nutrition programming at the state and local level, expand the channels for the delivery of evidence-based interventions, and improve the availability of high quality data for evaluation purposes related to fruit and vegetable consumption.

Key components of the MOU:

1. NCI will be the lead Federal agency for the National 5 A Day program.
2. NCI will seek to expand the 5 A Day program partnerships to include the CDC, USDA, other National Institute of Health institutes, other DHHS agencies and other organizations, in addition to the current national and state program partners.
3. A new steering committee structure has been developed to include these agencies and other key partners interested in promoting vegetable and fruit consumption. The 5 A Day steering committee will provide oversight and support to five subcommittees: Communications; Research/Evaluation; State, Regional, and Community Organizations; Industry; and Policy.
4. NCI, CDC, and participating USDA agencies will collaborate to achieve the major goal of the 5 A Day for Better Health Program, which is to increase consumption of vegetables and fruits by all Americans to 5 to 9 servings daily.
5. Management and governance of this coordinated, collaborative 5 A Day program will occur through a small team of program experts from the respective DHHS and USDA entities.
6. Specific activities to be carried out by each participating Federal partner will be elaborated upon as an attachment to the MOU.
7. Each agency shall provide partner agencies ample time to review and provide input, as well as comply with agency and departmental clearance policies, prior to publication and public dissemination of any 5 A Day for Better Health materials that include clear references to partner agencies. Clearance policies and processes apply to print, electronic, web-based, or audiovisual materials.

This MOU will commence upon signature and continue for five years. This agreement may be modified or extended by mutual written agreement and may be terminated at any time by any party upon written notice to the other parties.