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.
This notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced-price meals, free milk, and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer benefits for the period from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
We regularly collect information about the school meal programs and how they operate from the people who know best – the state agencies that oversee the programs in each state and territory and the school food authorities that manage the programs locally in one or more schools.
This memorandum is a reminder to state agencies and local educational agencies that the statutory deadline to elect the Community Eligibility Provision for the following school year is June 30. This memorandum also provides a reminder of the annual CEP notification and publication requirements.
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.
Food distribution program data.
Due to a technical problem with the docket that prevented comments from being accepted during part of the initial comment period, we are reopening the comment period for the interim final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on June 6, 2025. The rule rescinds an unnecessary reporting requirement for the school meals application verification process.
This notice sets forth the interpretation that the U.S. Department of Agriculture uses for the term “Federal public benefit” as used in Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. In doing so, this notice supersedes any prior interpretation in any notice or other document issued by any USDA agency. This notice also describes and preliminarily identifies the USDA programs that provide “Federal public benefits” within the scope of PRWORA.
Frequently asked questions and answers for suppliers and manufacturers publishing data for the Child Nutrition Database.