FNS Documents & Resources

State agencies must exercise diligence to ensure that TEFAP food inventories are managed effectively, efficiently, and without waste. The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide state agencies with the direction and guidance necessary in maintaining proper inventory levels of USDA Foods for TEFAP, including the estimation of monthly utilization rates for new or bonus USDA Foods for which there are no historical usage records.

FNS has developed a new version of the prototype Free and Reduced Price School Meals Application package. This “family friendly” application package has been simplified to include only the information that families need when first applying for free or reduced price meals in the school meals programs.

Three pieces of legislation currently govern the level of food and administrative resources available to TEFAP in FY 2013: the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983; and the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2013 which provides funding in FY 2013 at a pro rata share of the FY 2012 funding level through March 27, 2013.

This memorandum provides information regarding the state agencies’ quarterly reporting requirements associated with identifying the number of school food authorities certified to receive the performance-based reimbursement for each lunch served in compliance with the new meal pattern requirements for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

The Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs final rule was published on Jan. 26, 2012. The final rule requires that fruits and vegetables be offered as separate meal components in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.

The purpose of this memorandum is to highlight common issues related to inaccurate or misleading product literature, product labels, and fact sheets; provide guidance about how product literature can be used to make purchasing decisions; and bring to your attention several sample product formulation statements (PFS) that can be used to document a product’s contribution to meal pattern requirements.