This Report to Congress from USDA responds to a requirement established by the 2018 Farm Bill to address requirements to coordinate efforts within USDA to reduce barriers to food access. USDA has identified FNS as the Food Access Liaison to coordinate efforts and annually respond to this request. The report describes activities that occurred from October 2020 through September 2023 to reduce barriers to food access given the last such annual report submitted in March 2021 covered fiscal year 2020
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.
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.
To improve nutrition security, FNS works to ensure all communities have access to foods that support health and well-being. Our goal is to ensure program participants have access to culturally and religiously inclusive foods and that program operators have resources to serve culturally and religiously diverse communities.
Healthy Eating Index scores range from 0 to 100 and are a measure of diet quality used to assess how well a set of foods aligns with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A higher score is ideal. The FDPIR Food Package scores an 84. This is higher than the average U.S. diet, which scores a 59.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.
Provides information on food items available through TEFAP that may be acceptable to halal-observant communities.
This fact sheet outlines a number of additional resources for those seeking to directly purchase or raise food products for school nutrition programs.
The Nutrition Education and Local Food Access Dashboard is comprised of public data. The goal of the dashboard is to provide a county-level visualization of FNS nutrition support, specifically nutrition education and local food access, alongside other metrics related to hunger and nutritional health.
Answers to some of the frequently asked questions about how TEFAP can support cultural and religious practices around food, particularly those serving kosher and halal observant communities.