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Updated School Meal Standards: working towards a common goal of healthy children and helping them reach their full potential.
School meals will continue to include fruits and vegetables, emphasize whole grains, and give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy, tasty meals. For the first time, schools will focus on products with less added sugar, especially in school breakfast.
School nutrition professionals continue to make school meals the healthiest meals children eat in a day! To take school meals to the next level, USDA is updating the school nutrition standards after considering recommendations from the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and listening to a diverse range of voices with experience in child nutrition and health.
This notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals, free milk, and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer benefits for the period from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
The information collected from the individuals and households permits them to apply for benefits (including assistance during disasters or situations of distress) or to recertify their eligibility. FNS uses this information to manage the Food Distribution Programs and monitor the use of federal funds.
The purpose of this new collection is to collect qualitative and quantitative stakeholder feedback through meetings, focus groups, interviews, other stakeholder interactions and surveys, as well as requests for administrative data, as part of the planning process for FNS regulatory actions, the semi-annual regulatory agenda, research studies, outreach, training and the development of guidance.
FNS plans to collect periodic data to obtain information on operational challenges facing institutions who operate or administer child nutrition programs, including state agencies, SFAs and Summer Food Service Program sponsors. The Operational Challenges in Child Nutrition Programs (OCCNP) Surveys, are designed to collect timely data on emerging school food service operational challenges, including but not limited to supply chain disruptions, food costs, and labor shortages, and/or related issues in SY 2023–2024, 2024–2025, and SY 2025–2026.
This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk as stated in FNS regulations.
This collection of information is necessary for the application of the Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards by school food authorities.