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.
On April 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The 2024 final rule included an optional provision that continues to allow the substitution of vegetables for fruits at breakfast and provides schools with greater menu planning flexibility at breakfast as compared to the previous regulations. This memorandum provides updated guidance on the substitution of vegetables for fruits in the School Breakfast Program.
On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The rule finalized practical, science-based, long-term school nutrition requirements based on the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, extensive partner input, and lessons learned from prior rulemakings. This memorandum updates and clarifies current guidance for fluid milk requirements in school meal programs following publication of the 2024 final rule.
On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Among other provisions, this rule finalizes regulations that strengthen the School Meal Programs’ Buy American provision. The Buy American Exceptions Tracking Standard Form is an optional template that school food authorities can use to organize files and document the use of exceptions to purchase non-domestic foods under the Buy American provision.
FNS announces the release of Paid Lunch Price data for school year 2015-16. The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and 7 CFR 210.14 (e)(7) require school food authorities (SFAs) to report their paid reimbursable lunch prices to the state agencies for publication by FNS each school year.
This memorandum announces the change in reporting procedures of paid lunch prices in school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program for School Year 2016-17. SFAs are expected to report the most frequently charged price for elementary, middle/junior high and high school levels to their state agency.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance on meal service requirements in the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program’s Seamless Summer Option.
The purpose of this audit guidance policy memorandum is to clarify the options available to state distributing agencies or recipient agencies in assigning value to USDA donated foods for audit purposes.
This memorandum addresses questions that state agencies have asked regarding school food authority wide fiscal action and assists state agencies in completing administrative reviews of SFAs.
This memorandum provides general guidance on the various procurement groups FNS has identified, how to use each group in a way that complies with federal procurement standards, and supersedes SP 35-2012, Procuring Services of Purchasing Cooperatives, Group Purchasing Organizations, Group Buying Organizations, etc., dated June 12, 2012.