School food authorities (SFAs) participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs are required to verify income for a small percentage of households approved for free or reduced price meals each school year. However, getting households to respond to verification requests can be challenging for SFA staff. If households do not respond, they lose their benefits regardless of their actual eligibility.
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) along with other child nutrition programs (CNPs) administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) make it possible for schools to serve wholesome and appealing meals to students each day.
This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals.
This document provides an overview of basic food safety enforcement terminology used by FSIS that may impact school distributing agencies, school food authorities, and processors of USDA-regulated foods, including meat, poultry, and egg products.
This resource provides a checklist of the communication responsibilities related to recalls of USDA Foods before, during and after a recall.
This report presents estimates of participation rates for fiscal year 2016, comparing them to estimates of participation rates for FYs 2010 through 2015.
Summer sites play a valuable role in helping children learn, grow, and stay healthy. Check out the SFSP Nutrition Guide to learn how you plan and serve menus with a variety of nutrient-rich foods and beverages, and operate a safe and successful food service.
Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, the USDA Pilot Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables was designed to provide states with additional flexibility in the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Participating states and school food authorities can purchase approved items with existing USDA Foods National School Lunch Program entitlement funds from any USDA Pilot-authorized vendor in support of the school meal standards.
This memorandum provides guidance to states, local operators, and their software vendors on strategies for leveraging the design flexibilities of online free and reduced price school meal applications to reduce household reporting mistakes and certification errors.
This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2015 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.