OBJECTIVE: Identify the perception operating agents have on the Brazilian National School Feeding Program METHODS: This is an observational, cross-sectional and quali-quantitative study developed in non-probability and convenience sampling selected in an event promoted by the National Fund for Educational Development in 2015 in Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected through questions related to pre-defined categories concerning the National School Feeding Program. The questionnaire was answered by 43 nutritionists, 41 members of the School Feeding Board, and 16 school feeding administrators from 38 cities of Rio de Janeiro. The narrative analysis was based on benchmarks of cognitive analysis of public policies. The association among variables was investigated with chi-square test, being calculated the power for association testing. RESULTS: The perception of the implementation of the National School Feeding Program has been characterized by some challenges: 1) low number of nutritionists to meet the demand from schools; 2) low adhesion to the public call for the purchase of family farming products due to bureaucratic difficulties and insufficient local food production; 3) reduced coverage of food and nutritional measures due to the restriction of human, material and financial resources; and 4) limitation of the participation of the School Feeding Board due to insufficient training and transport for regular visits. The adequacy of the number of nutritionists showed statistically significant association with the purchase of family farming products (p = 0.002; power = 99%) and with the food and nutritional education activities (p = 0.021; power = 79%). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate the need for employment of nutritionist in sufficient numbers to meet the demands of the National School Feeding Program, investment in educational activities of healthy eating in schools, training of the School Feeding Board, greater availability of vehicles for school visits and assistance to family farmers in order to facilitate their participation in programs of institutional purchases and encourage the diversification of production.

The article by Schwartzman et al. analyzes the process of drafting and implementing Law 11,947/2009 and the components of the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE) in its "link" to family farming. The article cites the study by Hawkes et al. 1 that analyzed the same process, but with a different approach, since the latter study was based on models from political theory, while Schwartzamn et al. did not specifically state their frame of reference and included the analysis of components according to the logical model. Hawkes et al. identified elements in the political process that allowed approval of the Law (alliances and opposition strategies, like those in the Senate) that were only addressed in passing by Schwartzman et al. Analyzing the historical context, the article highlights the importance of the Zero Hunger Program and the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (CONSEA). However, it is important to emphasize the political dynamic established by the CONSEA, which empowered and coordinated demands by different sectors, facilitated alliances and negotiated policy action beyond the Executive Branch, like the Congressional Front for Food and Nutritional Security created in 2007, which helped confront the political opposition in the Senate. The process also allowed reshaping ideas, arguments, and interests and facilitated the shared development of definitions on issues that were essential to the terms of the Law: food and nutritional security and adequate and healthy eating, the PNAE and rights, family farming and the justifications for supporting it, public purchases to induce new practices and values, and development with equity, social inclusion, and social, economic, and cultural sustainability. Brazil's Federal Constitution (1988), Article 208, already acknowledged school feeding as a duty of the state, but it was only included in the list of social rights in 2010, with Constitutional Amendment 64 2. However, the links to the human right to adequate food only gained "material substance" in the CONSEA, which made specific recommendations to the PNAE from this perspective 3. The links to family farming were initially established through recognition of agriculture's calling and incentives for local production and purchases. Law 8,913 of 1994 4 already recommended that produce should be purchased preferentially at the regional level, but the justification of reduced costs took on new meaning in the context of food and nutritional security.