FNS Documents & Resources

The term "Alternate Protein Product" is the name used by FNS to identify products meeting requirements set forth in Appendix A of the NSLP, SBP, SFSP, and the CACFP within the section entitled Alternate Protein Products.

The Food Buying Guide for child nutrition programs has all of the current information in one manual to help you and your purchasing agent buy the right amount of food and the appropriate type of food for your program(s), and determine the specific contribution each food makes toward the meal pattern requirements.

USDA is committed to providing nutrition assistance to hard-hit families across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. In support of President Biden’s call to action on hunger, USDA announced that it is increasing the Pandemic EBT benefit by approximately 15 percent, providing more money for low-income families and millions of children missing meals due to school and child care closures.

These questions and answers provide guidance for recently published transitional standards for milk, whole grains and sodium.

School program regulations at 7 CFR 210.14 (f) require all revenue from the sale of non-program foods to accrue to the nonprofit school food service account. Non-program food is defined as food sold in a school at any time or location on the school campus (other than reimbursable meals) purchased using funds from the non-profit school food service account.

FNS invites state agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to apply to participate in demonstration projects that will evaluate the effectiveness of conducting direct certification with the Medicaid program.

This memorandum clarifies the flexibility available to local educational agency officials for establishing the effective date of eligibility for children certified for free or reduced price meals in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and free milk in the Special Milk Program based on household applications.

The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify and provide guidance on requirements in the Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option of the National School Lunch Program related to expanding awareness and access to these programs. This memorandum also highlights resources available to states and sponsors for conducting their required expansion efforts.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide additional guidance on the use of school and census data to establish area eligibility in CACFP, SFSP, and the Seamless Summer Option of the NSLP. In addition, this memorandum consolidates previous guidance and simplifies the area eligibility determination process to reduce administrative burdens on state agencies and program operators.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance on the use of the mobile feeding model in the Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option of the National School Lunch Program.