FNS Documents & Resources

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.

School meals, and the school nutrition professionals that provide them, help children be strong physically and mentally. Celebrate the school community and promote healthy foods with these fun new school meals materials.

The Farm to School team has cultivated resources, trainings, and technical assistance to help your program grow.  

See how states are using fiscal year 2021 Team Nutrition Training Grants to develop new school meal recipes reflecting local foods and cultures.

This factsheet highlights how a variety of healthy foods from each MyPlate food group are included as part of a school lunch. Learn about ways to help children make healthy food and beverage choices at school.

This infographic highlights healthy foods that are part of a balanced school breakfast.  Learn about why eating breakfast is important for learning, and how parents can help their child eat a healthy breakfast at school.

School meals are one of the most important tools for ensuring children have access to healthy and nutritious food. USDA strengthened school meal standards in 2012. Research on the impact of these changes emphasizes why we must support nutritious school meals.

Each year we ask child nutrition professionals to inspire other foodservice professionals and submit a picture of your most creative meal utilizing USDA Foods.  With more than 200 USDA Foods items available, we want to highlight each food group and the innovative ways in which they can be used.