Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins writes to remind schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any USDA Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Seamless Summer Option, of the many ways they can purchase local foods to serve in program meals.
This notice announces the annual adjustments to the national average payments, the amount of money the federal government provides states for lunches, afterschool snacks, and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; to the maximum reimbursement rates, the maximum per lunch rate from federal funds that a state can provide a school food authority for lunches served to children participating in the National School Lunch Program; and to the rate of reimbursement for a half-pint of milk served to non-needy children in a school or institution that participates in the Special Milk Program for Children.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking states and food service companies, with the support of school food authorities, to pledge to make school meals and snack programs healthier.
This notice announces the national average value of donated foods or, where applicable, cash in lieu of donated foods, to be provided in school year 2027 (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027) for each lunch served by schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, and for each lunch and supper served by institutions participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Product Formulation Statement templates and samples for demonstrating how a food product may contribute to the meal pattern requirements in USDA child nutrition programs.
The child nutrition label provides a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a food product may contribute to the meal pattern requirements in child nutrition programs.
This toolkit contains resources for use by food industry to understand meal pattern requirements for USDA child nutrition programs (CNP), how food products may contribute toward the meal pattern requirements, and food product documentation used in the CNP.
The term alternate protein product is the name we use to identify products meeting requirements set forth in Appendix A of the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program within the section entitled “Alternate Protein Products.”
A manufacturer’s product formulation statement is a document that demonstrates how a food product may contribute to the meal pattern requirements in USDA child nutrition programs.
The child nutrition label provides a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a food product may contribute to the meal pattern requirements in child nutrition programs.