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.

Healthy Eating Index scores range from 0 to 100 and are a measure of diet quality used to assess how well a set of foods aligns with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A higher score is ideal. The FDPIR Food Package scores an 84. This is higher than the average U.S. diet, which scores a 59.

The purpose of Farm to Food Bank Projects is to (a) reduce food waste at the agricultural production, processing, or distribution level through the donation of food, (b) provide food to individuals in need, and (c) build relationships between agricultural producers, processors, and distributors and emergency feeding organizations through the donation of food.

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.

FNS awarded over $58.5 million in round two TEFAP Reach and Resiliency grants to 40 TEFAP state agencies.  

Overview of TEFAP Reach and Resiliency grant opportunity.

Since 2008, FNS has been awarding funding for nutrition education projects through the FDPNE grants each fiscal year. Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies that are current FDPIR allowance holders (have a direct agreement with FNS to administer FDPIR) are eligible to apply for funds to conduct projects that provide nutrition information and services to FDPIR participants. Effective FY 2023, the FDPNE competitive grant program is discontinued.

FNS-525 State Administrative Expense Funds Reallocation Report