NEW YORK, March 17, 2022 – During a visit to Columbia University and in celebration of National Nutrition Month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a report detailing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Actions on Nutrition Security (PDF, 755 KB). This report highlights USDA’s commitment to advancing nutrition security, and the consistent access to safe, nutritious food that supports optimal health and well-being for all Americans.

Secretary Vilsack will also give a speech today at Teachers College, Columbia University showcasing the USDA’s robust efforts to tackle nutrition insecurity. The address will underscore USDA’s commitment under the Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize bold nutrition security efforts that will help ensure all American children and families have consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe and affordable food. The speech will begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time and be livestreamed on usda.gov/live.

Nutrition security (PDF, 203 KB) builds on the important work USDA and its partners are doing to promote food security by increasing the Department’s focus on diet-related chronic diseases -- a leading cause of death in the U.S. Nutrition Security further emphasizes the importance of tackling long-standing health inequities. Research shows communities of color, families with children, and people in more isolated areas of the country, including Tribal communities, are disproportionally affected by the toll of diet-related chronic diseases.

“The COVID-19 pandemic brought food insecurity to the forefront of the national conversation and shined a new light on the devastating toll of chronic disease, with an estimated two-thirds of COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. related to diet-related diseases,” said Vilsack. “Across the department we recognize that food and health are inherently intertwined, and we’re leaning into our powerful tools to help reduce chronic disease, advance equity and promote overall well-being. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to achieve this vision.”

“USDA and the Biden-Harris administration are committed to leading the way to a healthier future for all Americans, one nutritious meal at a time.”

The plan outlines USDA’s four-pillar strategic approach to leveraging all its assets to move toward nutrition security for all Americans. These strategies include:

• Meaningful Support: Providing nutrition support throughout all stages of life
• Healthy Food: Connecting all Americans with healthy, safe, affordable food sources
• Collaborative Action: Developing, translating and enacting nutrition science through partnership
• Equitable Systems: Prioritizing equity every step of the way

An integral part of all four pillars is USDA’s nutrition assistance programs, which are the most far-reaching tools available to ensure all Americans have access to healthy, affordable food.  

Broadly, Americans suffer from poor nutrition. When compared to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), the average American diet earns a rating of 59 out of 100 points. Poor diet increases risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and more. Beyond impacts on health, this also has negative effects on productivity, health care costs, military readiness and academic achievement.   

USDA is engaged in several efforts to help improve Americans’ diets, including:

• Modernizing WIC to reach more eligible mothers and their children and better meet their nutritional needs through updated food packages that reflect the recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the DGA.
• Building on the success of the school meal programs by issuing transitional nutrition standards while engaging with stakeholders to update the standards in a way that reflects the latest science and works for people on-the-ground.
• Helping SNAP participants make the most of their benefits, which were strengthened by the Thrifty Food Plan re-evaluation to ensure SNAP participants can afford a nutritious, practical diet.
• Focusing on nutrition education efforts across all its nutrition assistance programs – including SNAP-Ed, WIC breastfeeding support and promotion, and MyPlate – and ensuring they meet the needs of the diverse audiences they serve.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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WASHINGTON, August 7, 2023 – As part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids today announced that it is awarding nearly $30 million in subgrants to 264 school districts across 44 states and the District of Columbia, reaching students in some of our nation’s highest need schools. These funds are being provided by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

“Students in every community deserve access to healthy and nutritious meals,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to creating healthier, brighter futures for our children. With these funds, small and rural school districts will be able to modernize their operations and provide more nutritious meals, helping students succeed in the classroom and beyond.”

Each small and/or rural school district will receive up to $150,000 to support them in improving the nutritional quality of their meals and modernizing their operations, through efforts which could include:

• Innovative staff training programs;
• Kitchen updates and renovations;
• Redesigning food preparation and service spaces;
• Other school-district led efforts to support school meals and school nutrition professionals.

“When we strengthen school meal quality, we strengthen child health,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Stacy Dean. “These grants are the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities. We want to ensure every child in America has the opportunity to attend a school with high quality, nutritious meals, and this support is a step in that direction.”

An online map features the selected school districts and their grant amounts. The map will be updated on a rolling basis as schools formalize their grant agreements.

“Offering healthier school meals is key to helping our nation’s kids get the nutrients they need today and for their long-term development,” said Action for Healthy Kids CEO Rob Bisceglie. “Through this historic investment in school nutrition, we will help school districts across the country overcome challenges and develop solutions to provide nutritious foods for the children they serve.”

USDA and Action for Healthy Kids also recently opened applications for the Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards, which celebrate school districts that have made significant improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals. All school districts in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands are invited to apply. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through June 30, 2025.

School districts that meet Recognition Award criteria will receive benefits such as national and local recognition; travel stipends to attend a national Healthy Meals Summit; access to diverse best practices, training activities; and more.

Action for Healthy Kids will manage the grants to school districts, Recognition Awards, and Healthy Meals Summits with the support of The Chef Ann Foundation and Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion and Education.

USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative also includes the School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants, which aim to support innovation in the school meals market by increasing collaboration between schools, food producers and suppliers, and other partners. Applications for the Challenge Grants are expected to open in late 2023 or early 2024.

To learn more about other resources USDA provides to strengthen school meal programs, visit the USDA Support for School Meals webpage.

FNS works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the National School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs, the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022, highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy. To learn more about FNS, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

Action for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by bringing together and mobilizing educators, families, and other key stakeholders to help children lead healthy lives. Through its core programming and family-school partnerships, AFHK has impacted more than 20 million children in 55,000 schools nationwide to address systemic challenges in underserved communities. To learn more about its growing network of volunteers and champions, visit www.actionforhealthykids.org.

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2023 – USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service today recognized significant progress made across the nation’s nutrition assistance programs and broader nutrition security efforts during the Biden-Harris administration’s second year in office. As President Biden prepares for the 2023 State of the Union address, he will reflect on last year’s progress and forge ahead in the fight against hunger and increase access to nutritious foods for all Americans by supporting vital FNS programs that assist families in navigating the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, such as high food costs and supply shortages.

“The Food and Nutrition Service, alongside our devoted partners at the state, local, tribal, and territorial level, worked hard last year to lift up families through strengthened food programs,” said Stacy Dean, deputy under secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. “In 2022, FNS provided additional resources to WIC and school meal programs, as well as food banks, in an effort to meet the needs of the millions of Americans who use our programs. Additionally, we expanded online shopping for SNAP participants, equipped schools with upgraded tools, and boosted local agriculture.”

Highlights include:

Prioritizing nutrition security for all
In March 2022, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA Actions on Nutrition Security, which summarized how USDA and, in particular, FNS is working to advance nutrition security. These efforts align with the goals in the Biden-Harris administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health released for the September 2022 historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. FNS also issued a report highlighting the agency’s role in contributing to those goals by emphasizing the connection between food insecurity and diet-related diseases and prioritizing equitable access to healthy, affordable food.

In October, the agency hosted Come to the Table: USDA’s National Nutrition Security and Healthcare Summit, bringing together healthcare, federal and community leaders with a shared goal of ensuring all Americans have access to nutritious foods that support good health. In January, FNS participated in the first of seven regional summits to further those efforts.

Improving access through program modernization
FNS is committed to modernizing its nutrition assistance programs to best meet the needs of today’s participants and provide them with an improved customer experience. In 2022, FNS continued to expand SNAP online shopping, giving millions of families the opportunity to shop from home like many non-SNAP customers have been doing for years. As of December 2022, 181 retailers – representing thousands of actual stores – were participating. However, recognizing some retailers, especially smaller ones, still face technical challenges implementing online shopping, FNS awarded a $5 million grant to help these businesses get up and running.

Similarly, FNS made major investments in modernizing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, including awarding more than $50 million in grants designed to better reach more eligible families, reduce disparities in program delivery, and provide a convenient and equitable experience for all.

Ensuring babies and kids have access to the nutrition they need
FNS is committed to promoting nutrition security for children, starting them on the path to a healthy, thriving future. For summer 2022, FNS worked closely with 52 states and territories to continue providing Pandemic-EBT benefits to kids in low-income households to help cover the costs of meals they would otherwise receive at school or in child care.

FNS also announced the Healthy Meals Incentives initiative, a $100 million investment to recognize schools providing exceptionally nutritious meals, support small and rural schools in meeting nutrition standards, and partner with industry to develop healthy and tasty products for school meals. The agency also provided $80 million dollars for schools to invest in upgraded food service equipment that facilitates serving nutritious meals, as well as more than $70 million in Farm to School Grants for projects that connect kids with local agriculture. By helping schools address barriers such as staffing shortages, increased food costs, outdated kitchen equipment, and lack of physical space, this initiative will ensure that children continue to be served nutritious, fresh meals while they learn.

When the infant formula recall and related shortages strained families nationwide, FNS took immediate action. FNS worked with formula manufacturers and states to provide flexibilities that helped WIC participants get the formula they needed – and helped cover cost differences for states to make this possible. FNS also supported Operation Fly Formula to boost the infant formula supply.

Combating food inflation and strengthening food systems
FNS took many actions to help program partners and participants cope with inflation and the rising cost of food, while strengthening the nation’s food systems. FNS provided extensive financial support for the emergency food system, including nearly $1 billion for additional food purchases to help families in need. The agency also introduced a new $100 million Reach and Resiliency grant program to strengthen and expand The Emergency Food Assistance Program to ensure it reaches remote, rural, tribal and other low-income areas that face persistent poverty and inequality.

By providing a more than 25 percent increase to child nutrition program funding, FNS took action to ensure child nutrition programs could continue serving nutritious meals amid high food costs. This increase included nearly $2.5 billion to schools to purchase American-grown food and an increase to the per-meal reimbursement rate that is expected to pump an estimated $4.3 billion more into child nutrition programs nationwide.

FNS also supported two new USDA programs designed to provide additional food to food banks and schools in a way that strengthens regional food systems by purchasing locally grown food products from underserved producers and distributing it to communities in need of nutritional support.

FNS advanced several other priorities throughout 2022, including supporting workforce development in SNAP and WIC to improve employment opportunities and culturally relevant care for all families; strengthening program integrity through a system designed to prevent duplicate enrollment in SNAP; supporting tribal sovereignty through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Self-Determination Demonstration Projects; and more. FNS looks forward to continuing this momentum in collaboration with our partners, throughout the third year of the administration.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To learn more about FNS, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7, 2023 - To address food insecurity in Hawaii and provide more equitable resources to remote locations, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is increasing the reimbursement rates that child nutrition program operators receive for meals served in Hawaii from 17% to 30% above the contiguous United States (CONUS) rates. The increased rates will also apply to Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as those locations also face unique hurdles associated with obtaining ingredients and getting needed supplies in their island economies.

Healthy school meals are a top priority for USDA and FNS is committed to providing school meal operators on these islands with improved funding to operate these critical nutrition programs. In recognition of the higher food costs in these locations, the increased reimbursement rates will begin on July 1 to help ensure Hawaii schools have access to the resources needed to continue serving children nutritious, high-quality food while also building a stronger, more competitive, and more resilient local food system.

“FNS’s child nutrition programs have a wide-reaching impact on the health and well-being of children,” said FNS Western Regional Administrator Jesus Mendoza. “This boost in reimbursement rates helps program operators in Hawaii address ongoing challenges associated with the costs of preparing and serving healthy and nutritious meals and builds a more resilient local food system.”

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to financially supporting school meals and ensuring our nation’s children are nutritionally secure. This increase in rates is separate from the normal annual adjustment for reimbursement rates for child nutrition programs. Section 12(f) of the National School Lunch Act allows USDA to adjust reimbursement rates in outlying areas to reflect differences between the cost of providing meals and supplements in those areas and the costs of providing meals and supplements in all other states. The increased rates will apply until the next School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study is complete. Data collection for this comprehensive national study of the cost to produce a school meal is planned to begin in school year 2024-2025.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and wellbeing. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/ and follow @USDANutrition.

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By JoAnn Makinano, Public Affairs Specialist, Southwest Region Food and Nutrition Service

Cindy Long, Administrator, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and regional FNS leadership visited New Mexico last month to recognize several FNS nutrition assistance programs in action and learn how FNS can support their work. Advancing nutrition security is a key priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, so we are excited to be working with local partners to promote the overall importance of child nutrition. New Mexico is one of the first states to offer healthy meals to all children, ensuring more kids have access to the meals they need to thrive at school and beyond.

The first stop of Administrator Long’s visit was at the Isleta Pueblo WIC Clinic in Albuquerque to discuss the importance of WIC programming on tribal land. WIC, a federally funded supplemental food program, provides nutrition education, breastfeeding support, healthy foods and referrals to health care and other community services for low-income pregnant and post-partum women, and infants and children up to age five. FNS is committed to building and maintaining relationships with tribal nations and supporting the needs of Indigenous families.

Later, the group visited Bernalillo Public School’s Bernalillo Middle School for a tour and observed a from-scratch lunch being served, using whole, fresh ingredients providing students with the nutrition they need for educational success, health, and wellbeing. The meal included beef sourced from New Mexico ranchers. Starting next school year every child will have access to a healthy no-cost meal at school ensuring the benefits of school meals are shared by all students. This is one of FNS’ top priorities coming out of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. FNS is doing everything possible to support healthy school meals for all, including a proposed rule that would make it easier for more schools to offer breakfast and lunch each school day at no cost to all students.

Finally, the group visited One Generation’s Indigenous Farm Hub in Corrales to learn how they are revitalizing Indigenous farming practices and food systems, as well as supporting USDA’s Farm to School program. The Indigenous Farm Hub engages Indigenous communities in creating a network of farmers and families that strengthens local and sustainable food systems by providing access to healthy foods, builds prosperity for farmers and local communities through land reclamation, and reconnects the bond between language and culture to Indigenous practices of agriculture.

USDA is committed to working in tandem with partners to ensure children and families have the tools they need to lead healthy lives and thrive.

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