The Menu Planner for School Meals has been revised to reflect the Child Nutrition Programs: Transitional Standards for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Final Rule that was published in February 2022.
For children to grow and reach their full potential, it is critical that they have access to nutritious foods and develop lifelong healthy dietary habits.
The revised Whole Grain Resource for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs is a comprehensive guide to determine whether a grain product is whole grain-rich or can credit as enriched in school meals.
A webinar for state agencies and local program operators sharing proactive strategies to prevent and manage unpaid meal charges as schools return to standard counting and claiming in SY 2022-23.
The Food Buying Guide for child nutrition programs has all of the current information in one manual to help you and your purchasing agent buy the right amount of food and the appropriate type of food for your program(s), and determine the specific contribution each food makes toward the meal pattern requirements.
This training guide provides menu planning ideas, crediting tips, sample menus, and more to show school nutrition professionals how both scratch-made and commercially-prepared smoothies can be offered as part of a reimbursable school breakfast or lunch.
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.
This is the 2017 Edition of Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven Strategies from Our Nation’s Schools. This best practice guide is designed to support state agencies and local program operators in their efforts to find workable solutions to the challenge of unpaid meal charges.
No later than July 1, 2017, all school food authorities (SFAs) operating National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Program must have a written policy in place to address situations where children participating at the reduced price or paid rate do not have money to cover the cost of a meal at the time of the meal service. SFAs have discretion in developing the specifics of their policies, and FNS expects charge policies will vary based on local circumstances and available resources. This webinar provides an overview of the local charge policy requirement and shares best practices for successful policy development.
This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions FNS has received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.