Updated School Meal Standards: working towards a common goal of healthy children and helping them reach their full potential.
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.
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.
This rulemaking proposes important modifications to make the application of serious deficiency procedures in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program consistent, effective, and in line with current requirements under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
The USDA proposed to make changes to the SNAP's Quality Control system to strengthen and improve the integrity and accuracy of the system and to better align SNAP QC with requirements in the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019. When published, the proposed rule included an incorrect email address for comments; the reopening of the comment period is intended to allow additional time for the public to submit comments.
2023 Farm to School 908 Reporting Forms
This information, effective as of FY 2024 case reviews, is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service with SNAP's Quality Control Reviews. This is a mandatory collection and FNS uses the information for program monitoring, evaluation, corrective action, and characteristics.
USDA is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking to improve SNAP's quality control system as required in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.
FNS does not tolerate fraud, waste, or abuse in any of its programs, including among retailers that participate in SNAP. FNS monitors SNAP-authorized retailers and transaction data and investigates potential concerns as illustrated in this SNAP infographic highlighting retailer oversight.