The final rule - Child Nutrition Programs: Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans - is the next step in an ongoing effort toward healthier school meals that USDA and the broader school meals community have been partnering on for well over a decade. This table is a reference tool for stakeholders to visualize the proposed implementation timeline.
Updated School Meal Standards: working towards a common goal of healthy children and helping them reach their full potential.
School meals will continue to include fruits and vegetables, emphasize whole grains, and give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy, tasty meals. For the first time, schools will focus on products with less added sugar, especially in school breakfast.
School nutrition professionals continue to make school meals the healthiest meals children eat in a day! To take school meals to the next level, USDA is updating the school nutrition standards after considering recommendations from the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and listening to a diverse range of voices with experience in child nutrition and health.
Little is known about the food safety risks associated with the various production methods by which schools prepare and serve food to students. Given this, the Center for Food Safety in Child Nutrition Programs at Kansas State University conducted a study.
The Community Eligibility Provision is a National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program meal service option that allows schools and school districts located in high poverty areas to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students.
There are new tools to address summer hunger, including Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT), and a new flexible way to offer meals to children living in hard-to-reach, rural communities.
There are new tools to address summer hunger, including Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT), and a new flexible way to offer meals to children living in hard-to-reach, rural communities.
Check out this database to access vendor-specific product information for all direct delivered USDA Foods for the National School Lunch Program.
2023 Farm to School Census logo and stickers.