FNS Documents & Resources

The National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program are central parts of a national policy designed to safeguard the nutritional well-being of the Nation’s children. Despite the progress that has been achieved over the years in enhancing the quality of school meals, results of research conducted in the early 1990s indicated that school meals, on balance, were not meeting certain key nutritional goals. 

The NSLP offers free and reduced-price school meals to students from eligible households. Households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals, and households with incomes between 131 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced-price meals. Traditionally, to receive these benefits, households had to complete and submit application forms to schools or be directly certified. Direct certification, on the other hand, is a method of eligibility determination that does not require families to complete school meal applications. Instead, school officials use documentation from the local or state welfare agency that indicates that a household participates in AFDC or food stamps as the basis for certifying students for free school meals.

This notice announces the value of donated foods or, where applicable, cash in lieu thereof, to be provided in the 2001 school year for each lunch served by schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or by commodity only schools and for each lunch and supper served by institutions participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

The Department announces adjusted income eligibility guidelines to be used by state agencies in determining the income eligibility of persons applying to participate in the WIC program. These income eligibility guidelines are to be used in conjunction with the WIC regulations.

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 or free milk for the period from July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001.

This notice announces the annual adjustments to: (1) The "national average payments,'' the amount of money the Federal Government provides States for lunches, afterschool snacks and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; (2) the "maximum reimbursement rates,'' the maximum per lunch rate from Federal funds that a State can provide a school food authority for lunches served to children participating in the National School Lunch Program; and (3) the rate of reimbursement for a half-pint of milk served to non-needy children in a school or institution which participates in the Special Milk Program for Children.

This notice announces the Food and Nutrition Service's intent to continue a demonstration project to test program changes designed to improve the state processing of donated poultry by allowing the substitution of donated poultry supplied by the Department of Agriculture with commercial poultry.

The WIC program provides a combination of direct nutritional supplementation, nutrition education and counseling, and increased access to health care and social service providers for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women; infants; and children up to the age of five years. WIC seeks to improve fetal development and reduce the incidence of low birthweight, short gestation, and anemia through intervention during the prenatal period. Infants and children who are at nutritional or health risk receive food supplements, nutrition education, and access to health care services to maintain and improve their health and development.

WIC provides supplemental foods, nutrition education and access to health care to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five. Since its inception in the early 1970’s, the program has received fairly widespread support and it has grown in size to serve 7.4 million participants in FY 1998 at an annual cost of around $4 billion.

This notice announces the initial level of per-meal assistance for the Nutrition Program for the Elderly for fiscal year 2000. The fiscal year 2000 initial level of assistance is set at $.5404 for each eligible meal.