This rule rescinds an unnecessary reporting requirement for the school meals application verification process.
The purpose of this memorandum is to remind schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any USDA Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children , Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Seamless Summer Option , of the many ways they can purchase local foods to serve in program meals.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service requests comments from the public to obtain input to help inform future policymaking, guidance, and technical assistance related to grain-based desserts and high-protein yogurt crediting in child nutrition programs.
This is a Request for Information to inform the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) development of the Child Nutrition Programs Tribal Pilot Projects, as authorized in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024.
On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. While most provisions in the 2024 final rule focus on the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, this rule also includes limited updates to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program to better align child nutrition programs requirements. These updates represent continued progress toward supporting the nutritional quality of meals offered through the CNPs and meeting cultural food preferences of program participants.
The Child Nutrition rule, “Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provision—Increasing Options for Schools” amends the regulations associated with the School Meals Program, which consists of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.
USDA and eight other federal agencies recently published a final rule entitled, Partnerships With Faith-Based and Neighborhood Organizations at 89 FR 15671 (final rule). The final rule amended USDA regulations at 7 CFR part 16 related to equal opportunity for faith-based organizations that operate USDA programs and religious protections for USDA program beneficiaries.
This guide informs small entities participating in child nutrition programs about the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and how to comply with it. This guide does not include any new requirements; it just summarizes existing guidance related to the final rule.
This memorandum and attachments provide information on the revised Form FNS-418: Report of the Summer Food Service Program for Children that is used to report data on meals served in the SFSP, and the revised Form FNS-10: Report of School Program Operations that is used to report data on meals served in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
This rulemaking finalizes long-term school nutrition requirements based on the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, robust stakeholder input, and lessons learned from prior rulemakings.