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Setting kids up for success. It’s what every parent, guardian, and educator wants for our nation’s schoolchildren. They understand the power that small changes have to make a big difference in the learning environment. That’s why here at USDA, we recently announced a generational investment in our children’s futures through updated school nutrition standards.

It’s award season! USDA is excited to highlight summer meal sponsors who go above and beyond to ensure children receive nutritious, appetizing meals.

What kid doesn’t enjoy eating their favorite dish in the school cafeteria? As a kid, I was always excited when broccoli cheese soup was on my school lunch menu! But, what if the foods that kids eat at home and in their community aren’t served in school? 

The next meeting of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee will be held on Jan. 19, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET.

Registration is now open. HHS and USDA invite the public to participate in this important event by registering in advance to view the livestream.

A key part of our work to end hunger, improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases is focusing on historically under-served areas, like rural and Tribal communities. Alaska, for instance, faces unique challenges.

USDA FNS Administrator and regional FNS leadership visited New Mexico to recognize several FNS nutrition assistance programs in action and learn how FNS can support their work. New Mexico is one of the first states to offer healthy meals to all children, ensuring more kids have access to the meals they need to thrive at school and beyond.

Bringing together local producers and schools was the objective of the “Bringing the Farm to School” producer training in Hardin, Montana. The training sought to build relationships between schools and producers to increase the availability of local foods served to children.

Connecting Kids to Meals, known as CKM, is a nonprofit agency in Toledo, Ohio, that provides healthy meals at no cost to at-risk kids in low-income and underserved areas of Northwest Ohio. With a nearly 20-year history of feeding hungry kids, the critical work of CKM becomes more important every day.

The RUSD community exemplifies the commitment to healthy food for kids – a priority of the USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration. That commitment can produce an entire school community that embraces and supports the notion of serving and teaching kids about healthy foods.

USDA FNS is working hard to get more eligible families connected to WIC by making it easier to enroll.

School breakfast programs are critical in building a healthier future for America’s children. But currently, only half of the children who eat school lunch also get their breakfast at school. 

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture encourage public participation in the committee’s review process.

The HHS and USDA will host the second full meeting of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on May 10, 2023. The meeting will be livestreamed for public viewing.

Over the course of three days in MI, Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for FNS, spoke at "The State of Our Plate" convening, met with school food service professionals, and attended a summit for healthcare professionals, insurers, federal, state, and local government officials.

Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and nutrition programs to more than 22,000 students every day.

Federal nutrition programs do more than give kids food to eat. They teach children about the importance of nutrition and help them develop healthy habits.

The School Breakfast Program is one of the most nutritious and tasty meals children eat each day.

USDA’s summer meal programs – the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option – reduce food and nutrition insecurity and help ensure kids are healthy and ready to learn when they return to school in the fall.

TEFAP Reach and Resiliency – Round 1 grants are making an impact in communities across the nation. The Food Bank of Lincoln has leveraged Reach and Resiliency sub-grant funding to identify underserved areas and to implement strategies to increase TEFAP access in those areas. In some cases, the strategies were as simple as increasing the frequency of deliveries to specific communities to ensure that existing TEFAP resources were being equitably distributed.