FNS Documents & Resources

The attached Q&As are issued in follow-up to Policy Memorandum SP 50-2013, Release of the new state agency Direct Certification Rate Data Element Report.

This memo is to inform you of recent changes related to data exchanges for the purposes of direct certification for NSLP with SNAP. Please share this information with state agencies administering SNAP and continue to encourage them to fully cooperate with their NSLP counterparts to improve the direct certification of children in SNAP households.

The Food and Nutrition Service published a final rule entitled, National School Lunch Program: Direct Certification Continuous Improvement Plans Required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, on Feb. 22, 2013.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, as amended by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010  require that children living in households receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program be directly certified for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program and/or the School Breakfast Program.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service policy memo SP 26-2013, "Extending Flexibility in the Meat/Meat Alternate and Grains Maximums for School Year 2013-14" extends the flexibility regarding Meat/Meat Alternate (M/MA) maximums for SY 2013-13, allowing state agencies to assess compliance based on the minimum daily and weekly serving requirements only.  

This rule amends the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) regulations to incorporate provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 designed to encourage states to improve direct certification efforts with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In November 2005, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued Policy Memorandum FD-049 to assist school food authorities (SFAs) in providing healthier options and a wider variety of cheese products for students. The policy memorandum permits processors to substitute cheese donated by the Department of Agriculture (i.e., USDA cheese) with other varieties of cheese produced for the commercial market.

The purpose of this policy memorandum is to clarify a state distributing agency's (SDA) responsibilities regarding (1) the approval of end products for processing; and (2) monitoring of sales of such end products to school food authorities (SF A) in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) by reviewing a processor's monthly performance report.

In accordance with 7 CFR 250.30(1), a processor may. in most cases, substitute Department of Agriculture (USDA) donated foods with commercially purchased foods of U.S. origin, and of equal or better quality in all USDA purchase specifications than the donated food. The substitution option permits processors to conduct their business efficiently and provide finished end products to school food authorities (SFAs) and other recipient agencies in a timely manner.

In this policy memorandum, we clarify that the SFA may, in some cases, include bids for procurement of end products in its solicitation for procurement of commercial food products from commercial distributors, rather than conduct two separate solicitations.