These briefs share the findings from the USDA School Food Preparation Study.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins writes 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 is asking states and food service companies, with the support of school food authorities, to pledge to make school meals and snack programs healthier.
The USDA Nutrition Education Report to Congress Fiscal Year 2024 offers a description of nutrition education within the United States Department of Agriculture and a summary of coordinated nutrition education activities completed from October 2023 through September 2024.
In this program guidance, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, strongly encourages child nutrition program operators to familiarize themselves with the key recommendations and consider how the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 can be incorporated into program meals and snacks to promote healthy outcomes and healthy families.
As a reminder, meals and snacks offered through the child nutrition programs may be claimed for federal reimbursement if they meet the federal nutrition requirements and other federal regulations. State agencies may not withhold federal reimbursement for meals that meet the federal requirements, even if additional state requirements are not met. However, if a state provides an additional reimbursement above the federal reimbursement, they may withhold the state reimbursement.
Under the leadership of Secretary Brooke Rollins, USDA is prioritizing the clarification of statutory, regulatory, and administrative requirements of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.
This memorandum details the nutrition requirements for fluid milk and fluid milk substitutes in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and includes a series of frequently asked questions and answers. This memorandum supersedes CACFP 17-2016, Nutrition Requirements for Fluid Milk and Fluid Milk Substitutions in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Questions and Answers, July 14, 2016.
The purpose of this memorandum is to outline the use of Offer Versus Serve in the adult day care and at-risk afterschool settings, as well as the use of family style meals in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The CACFP meal patterns lay the foundation for a healthy eating pattern for children and adults in care. USDA also developed optional best practices that build on the meal patterns and highlight areas where centers and day care homes may take additional steps to further improve the nutritional quality of the meals they serve.