On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This rule includes minor updates to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program to better align Child Nutrition Program requirements. These updates represent continued progress toward supporting the nutrition quality of school meals, strengthening the Child Nutrition Programs, and advancing USDA’s commitment to nutrition security.
FNS is committed to increasing access to SNAP, one of the most powerful tools available to ensure low-income people have access to healthy food. Program informational activities, or SNAP outreach activities, are a critical tool to ensure vulnerable populations are aware of the availability, eligibility requirements, application procedures, and benefits of SNAP.
Through this rulemaking, FNS aims to improve the quality of race and ethnicity data collected and to ensure program benefits are distributed without regard to race, color, or national origin.
This memorandum provides updated guidance on crediting tofu and soy yogurt products in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and extends previous guidance on crediting tofu and soy yogurt products to the Summer Food Service Program, as well as to the infant meal pattern in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
This updated memorandum provides guidance to Indigenous communities on incorporating traditional Indigenous foods that meet CNP meal pattern requirements and includes an updated and expanded list of traditional Indigenous foods that credit the same as similar foods currently listed in the Food Buying Guide for child nutrition programs.
This memorandum provides updated guidance on feeding infants and the infant meal pattern requirements. This revision incorporates updated breastmilk storage recommendations, infant formula food safety considerations, and information on crediting grains in ounce equivalents.
This communication is intended to provide states with information about a change in the FNS accounting process for obligating SNAP funds.
The purpose of this memorandum is to advise state agencies on the steps the Food and Nutrition Service will take to monitor and engage state agencies with poor SNAP initial application processing timeliness rates.
This memorandum provides best practices for establishing a single application process for experienced program operators providing year-round meal services to at-risk children in low-income areas.
This policy memorandum provides guidance to improve outreach and streamline certification in WIC. It outlines current flexibilities and new policy for certification documentation options and aims to reduce WIC staff and participant burden.