FNS Documents & Resources

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will discontinue the requirement for vendors to use high security seals to secure USDA Foods deliveries as of July 1, 2023. 

This memorandum is meant to provide clarification and guidance on policies and procedures for donated food storage and distribution as they relate to product dating.

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.

This memorandum provides clarification regarding households determined to be categorically eligible for FDPIR in accordance with provisions at sections 4300-4320 of Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Handbook 501.

The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide further guidance and clarity on new donated food insurance requirements for state distributing agencies, subdistributing agencies, select commercial storage facilities, and recipient agencies that have agreements with the state distributing agency or subdistributing agency to store and distribute donated foods.

There has been confusion about how unpaid meal charges must be handled when all collection efforts have been exhausted. To help address these situations, this memorandum clarifies the processes of designating delinquent debt that has been determined to be uncollectable as bad debt and obtaining assistance to offset bad debt losses.

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

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

This is a reminder of the statutory and regulatory requirements for categorical eligibility for the Child Nutrition Programs based on receipt of benefits from each state’s Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act restricts categorical eligibility to those TANF programs with standards that are comparable to or more restrictive than those in effect on June 1, 1995.

This memorandum modifies the policy related to categorical eligibility for free meals or free milk for children who are members of a household receiving assistance under SNAP, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program.