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.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children – also known as WIC – supports maternal and child health by providing nutritious supplemental foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to important health care and other social services.

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 is committed to helping states provide food benefits to children through Summer P-EBT to ensure kids are nourished and healthy

Congress directed USDA to re-evaluate the Thrifty Food Plan based on “current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance.”  The 2021 TFP reflects the latest available data and is designed to meet the needs of low-income Americans in a cost-conscious way.

USDA is preparing an update to the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to determine SNAP benefits. The TFP was last updated in 2006. As part of the update, USDA hosted 5 listening sessions with SNAP participants as well as local and national advocates, researchers, and policymakers to gather diverse insights on the TFP. Here’s a snapshot of what they shared.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires USDA to establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools — beyond the federally supported meals programs. This new rule carefully balances science-based nutrition guidelines with practical and flexible solutions to promote healthier eating on campus.