FNS Documents & Resources

School meals are an important part of making sure kids get what they need to grow and learn. We know you want the best for our nation's children and USDA is investing in making school meals even healthier.

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.

Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which  provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets. 

Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets. 

Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets. 

The findings described in this webinar are based on two analyses. One that estimated the percentage of daily and weekly lunch menus that met the updated nutrition standards, and another that examined the nutritional quality of the lunches using the Healthy Eating Index-2010.

In January 2012, the “Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs,” final rule was published and required schools to serve a greater quantity and variety of fruits and vegetables and more whole grains/whole grain-rich products. To support the updated meal pattern requirements and assist school food operators with menu planning, an inter-agency agreement was established between USDA, FNS and USDA, Agricultural Research Service to conduct analytical yield studies.

This brochure provides ideas to use healthy choices for fundraising that sell only nonfood items or foods that meet the Smart Snacks nutrition standards.

The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide direction and guidance to SDAs in order to ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements, and to make certain that all SFAs receive their planned assistance level and maximize their use of USDA Foods to meet the nutrition standards in the NSLP.