FNS Documents & Resources

Offer versus Serve is a provision in the NSLP and School Breakfast Program that allows students to decline some of the food offered. The goals of OVS are to reduce food waste in the school meals programs while permitting students to decline foods they do not intend to eat. 

Offer vs. Serve (OVS) is an approach to menu planning and meal service that aims to simplify program administration and reduce food waste and costs while maintaining the nutritional value of the meal that is served.

The guide allows you to evaluate NOAAs to see how well they work for clients; and improve them using proven plain language and information design techniques. In addition, the guide contains models for general notices—providing you with some basic language and formatting examples that can be adapted to notices.

This instruction is intended to clarify allowable variations to child nutrition program food components in order to meet religious needs among Jewish schools, institutions and sponsors. 

This guidance replaces the 2004 edition of the Offer versus Serve in the School Nutrition Programs Resource Guide. In addition, please note that this guidance will be revised for School Year 2014-15 and beyond to reflect newly implemented meal pattern requirements as they are phased in.

This memorandum provides clarification of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) comparable disqualification policy.

This memorandum is to provide guidance on the verification process and reporting for categorically eligible foster children

The purpose of this memo is to transmit guidance regarding the use of data that the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) provides to states documenting retailer disqualifications as a potent source of evidence in recipient trafficking cases.

The purpose of this memorandum is to implement a provision affecting mandatory direct certification for children in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households.

Some state agencies have adopted a version of simplified reporting for other programs, such as Medicaid and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, and are using multi-program report forms for the various programs, including SNAP.