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.
USDA and the Biden Administration are committed to supporting nutrition security – consistent access to nutritious foods that promote good health – through the federal nutrition assistance programs. School nutrition professionals have made incredible strides in strengthening child nutrition over the past decade; research shows school meals are the healthiest meals children eat in a day!
Here are some ways USDA is proposing to make school meals even more nourishing, while still keeping them appealing to kids.
USDA is proposing science-based updates to the school meal standards to make them even more nourishing for kids, yet feasible for our school meal partners. This infographic shows the proposed implementation timeline for updating the school meal standards.
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.
Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets.
Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets.
Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets.
Findings are from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, which provides information about a broad array of topics, including the food and nutrient content of school meals, the costs of school meals, the food environments in schools, and the contribution of school meals to children’s overall diets.
The analysis included all foods and beverages consumed at lunch. Students who ate school lunches may also have consumed foods or beverages from home or other places. All of the differences between students who ate school lunches and students who ate lunches from home or other places are statistically significant.