National School Lunch Program

The list of applicants that have been selected to receive the FY 2022 National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grant for School Food Authorities (SFAs) can be found in the link below.

FY 2022 Equipment Grant Awards (EXCEL) (PDF)

This is a reminder that the Local School Wellness Policy (LSWP) Triennial Assessments for State agencies that opted into Waiver 7: Local School Wellness Policy Triennial Assessment, included in the

As part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) 

On June 25th, 2022, President Biden signed the Keep Kids Fed Act, which extended USDA authority to waive certain requirements for Child Nutrition Programs to address COVID-19. This gave USDA extra resources to continue serving participants of the Child Nutrition Programs through the SY 2022-2023. These flexibilities (along with some waivers that were offered using USDA’s 12(l) National School Lunch Act waiver authority) are set to expire on June 30th, 2023. These flexibilities allowed for children and adult participants to continue to be fed in a safe manner during the pandemic.

Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)

1.  Who can participate in CEP?

To participate in CEP, at least 25% of enrolled students must be certified for free meals without an application. An entire School Food Authority (SFA), individual school building/Recipient Agency (RA), or group of RAs within an SFA can participate in CEP. SFAs should determine how to implement CEP to maximize the benefits to the most students.

The following is an advance notification from USDA for an additional round of Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds.  This memo will be replaced with the formal announcement when it is released by USDA.

State agencies and school meal program operators are reminded that Sodium Target 1A, as promulgated by the Transitional Standards for Milk, Whole Grains and Sodium - Final Rule, goes into effect on July 1, 2023, in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) only. There will be no change to sodium limits for breakfasts served through the School Breakfast Program (SBP).

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has received State-level waiver authority from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from the requirements in Section 11(a)(1)(F)(x)(I) of the NSLA, 42 U.S.C. 1759a and FNS regulations at 7 CFR 245.9(f)(4)(i) to allow school food authorities to apply to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision for the 2023-2024 school year until August 31, 2023.

*This is a consolidated list of information available on the website regarding program operations for school year 2023-2024 Program operations.  Recent updates will be noted by the asterisk (*).

The New York State Education Department (SED), Office of Child Nutrition Program Administration hosted two listening sessions on March 9^th and 16^th of 2023 to hear from New York State school food professionals on the potential impact of the “Child Nutrition Programs: Revision to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guideline for Americans” federal proposed rule.