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.

USDA is updating the WIC food packages to reflect current nutrition science.

A webinar for state agency and school food authority staff focused on the community eligibility provision. 

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.

A final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provision-Increasing Options for Schools (88 FR 65778), was published on Sept. 26, 2023, with an effective date of Oct. 26, 2023, that established the 25 percent minimum ISP threshold.  As a result, more students, households, and schools have the opportunity to experience CEP’s benefits, such as increasing access to school meals at no cost, eliminating unpaid meal charges, minimizing stigma, and streamlining meal service operations.

The Child Nutrition Labeling Manual provides food manufacturers with instructions on how to apply and obtain approval for a CN label. 

This webinar gives an overview of the rulemaking process, highlights specific regulatory changes and provisions that impact the school meal programs, and provides information regarding resources for the final rule.

In July of 2022, the Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022 was signed into law. This rule implements the provisions of ABFA and several other related changes to strengthen WIC’s ability to address certain disasters, emergencies, and supply chain disruptions, particularly those impacting infant formula.

This document provides SNAP state agencies with the federal “Go Live” requirements for transitioning from UAT to Pilot and Pilot to Rollout of a new or enhanced eligibility system.