FNS Documents & Resources

Use these materials to bring your school community together to create strong school environments that support students’ growth, learning, and well-being. 

This page contains regulations, policy memos, and other guidance materials relating to the nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

Professional Standards for school nutrition professionals is a key provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The final rule, published March 2, 2015, requires a minimum amount of annual training hours for all state directors of school nutrition programs, state director of distributing agencies, school nutrition program directors, managers, and staff.

A number of tools and resources are available to help schools identify food items that meet Smart Snacks criteria. See the resources below for information about the Smart Snacks requirement, helpful tools, and ways to encourage children to make healthier snack choices that give them the nutrition they need to grow and learn.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 added a new Section 23 on Childhood Hunger Research to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. This section provides substantial new mandatory funding to research the causes and consequences of childhood hunger and to test innovative strategies to end child hunger and food insecurity.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection for the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics study.

The goal of the school meal programs is to provide nutritious meals to children during the school day. Children may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are categorically eligible for free meals or if they qualify for free meals based on federal poverty guidelines. Sometimes, however, children who do not qualify based on these standards would like a breakfast or lunch, but do not have money in their account or in-hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of the meal service.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance for state agencies and program operators on the status of nationwide waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements in the Summer Food Service Program.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance for state agencies and program operators on the status of nationwide waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements in the Summer Food Service Program.

This memorandum provides a reminder overview of options available under current program policy and regulation for connecting children and adult survivors, who have evacuated from areas subject to major disaster and emergency declarations, and may be staying in shelters, with child nutrition program benefits.