FNS Documents & Resources

Recently, FNS has received a number of questions related to buying local meat, poultry, game, and eggs; this memorandum seeks to clarify the regulatory requirements related to food safety and answer specific questions related to these products with a series of questions and answers.

FNS published a final rule on program integrity to ensure that child nutrition programs are properly operated and managed to protect federal funds and taxpayer dollars.

This webinar discusses the current programs available to provide food and administrative funds for state agencies to support food banks and emergency feeding programs. The presentation provides an overview of resources available to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, including Congressionally appropriated program funds, Section 32 bonus foods, and the recent commitment from USDA to provide additional food and administrative support using the Commodity Credit Corporation. We also highlight the Reach and Resiliency grant opportunity and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program.

This factsheet explains how USDA Foods support the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the school meal pattern requirements to make it easier for schools to prepare healthy meals using local foods.

This fact sheet provides information on how to use USDA DoD Fresh to purchase local produce.

The tip sheet provides a list of suggested practices that program operators may adopt to assist with proper meal counting and claiming when meals are served in alternative locations.

In January 2020, the USDA FNS will publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule entitled “Streamlining Program Requirements and Improving Integrity in the Summer Food Service Program” to improve program efficiency while allowing local operators to spend more time focused on serving children.

The primary purpose of this study is to provide FNS with information about how the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is administered and monitored by State agencies and SFSP sponsors and sites, and identify common SFSP integrity challenges.

This rule proposes to codify several provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 affecting the integrity of the child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program, the Special Milk Program for Children, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program and state administrative expense funds.

The Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program allows schools to use their USDA Foods entitlement dollars to buy fresh produce. The program, operated by DoD’s Defense Logistics Agency, began in SY 1994-95 as a pilot in eight states. As of 2013, schools in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam participate; schools are anticipated to receive more than $100 million worth of produce through the program during SY 2012-13.