FNS Documents & Resources

This memorandum provides the SY 2016-2017 SFA-3 with revised instructions that provide additional information and clarifications to the previously released form’s instructions. The revised instructions will assist with the completion of the FNS-640 report that is due on March 1, 2018.

The Department purchases foods and donates them to state distributing agencies for further distribution and use in food assistance programs, or to provide assistance to eligible persons.

The National School Lunch Act states: “It is declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation's children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the states, through grants-in-aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs.”

This memorandum replaces SP 24-2016, Compliance with and Enforcement of the Buy American Provision in the National School Lunch Program. It provides several updates, including suggested contract language to be utilized in solicitations, and serves to reinforce the importance of the Buy American provision to our economy and its positive effects on small and local businesses.

Attached to this memorandum, please find a revised edition of the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals, with an accompanying instructions document. These materials may be adapted for direct use by state and local agencies, or as a reference for designing an effective application packet that meets all statutory and regulatory requirements. 

This memorandum provides an overview of the redesign of the FNS-640 Administrative Review Report and provides information regarding FNS-640 instructions, system updates and upcoming activities. The FNS-640 is scheduled to be available in the Food Program Reporting System by January 2018.

This memorandum provides reporting guidance for the state agencies that conducted reviews utilizing the administrative review process for school year 2015-16.

The final rule titled Administrative Reviews in the School Nutrition Programs was published on July 29, 2016. The Office of Management and Budget cleared the associated information collection requirements on Sept. 12, 2016. This document announces approval of the ICR.