National School Lunch Program

The “And Justice for All” posters have been revised by the USDA and are available to all School Food Authorities and Summer Food Service Program Sponsors participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs. Please replace and display this revised “And Justice for All” poster immediately.

The “And Justice for All” posters are required to be posted in highly visible locations in all Child Nutrition Program service areas including cafeterias, classrooms and in the vicinity of or on reimbursable meal vending machines if they are placed in areas other than the cafeteria.

Adult Selling Prices

Breakfast

• Schools that receive regular reimbursement for breakfast must charge a minimum of $1.82 plus tax for an adult breakfast meal
• Schools that receive severe need reimbursement for breakfast must charge a minimum of $2.15 plus tax for an adult breakfast meal

Lunch

• Schools that receive under 60% ($3.2199) for lunch must charge a minimum of $3.54 plus tax for an adult lunch

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a memorandum last month notifying State Agencies that a total of $30 million dollars has been allocated through the FY 2016 Agriculture Appropriations Act to competitively award equipment assistance grants to eligible School Food Authorities (SFAs) operating the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Section 111 of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-265) amended section 9(h) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act by requiring school food authorities (SFAs) to implement a food safety program. The Reauthorization Act requires that, during the preparation and service of meals, the SFA comply with a HACCP system established by the Secretary of Agriculture. The law requires compliance with this requirement by July 1, 2005.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) is required to comply with the regulations of the United States Office of Civil Rights. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that receive federal funds from USDA such as Child Nutrition Program lunch, breakfast, snack, or milk reimbursements must collect data specific to their operations regarding non-discrimination and civil rights. Most school districts and many nonpublic schools already collect this data as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

USDA recently created the attached Questions and Answers (Q&As) to further explain the geographic preference option. This information will provide guidance and technical assistance to schools that are trying to connect with local or regional farmers in order to incorporate more fresh, local foods into their school meal programs.

    There is a growing interest among school food authorities (SFAs) on the use of vending machines to provide reimbursable meals in the school meal programs.  USDA has provided the following guidance for SFAs that are considering whether a meal vending machine could be successfully incorporated into their National School Lunch (NSLP) and School Breakfast Programs (SBP).

      School food authorities (SFAs) must maintain appropriate records for procurement transactions occurring in connection with the Child Nutrition Programs.

The recently enacted Fiscal Year 2008 Agriculture Appropriations Act directed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work with School Meal Program administrators and local food advocates to identify opportunities for growth in local procurement, and provide Congress a report on these efforts.  In response to this request and their ongoing Farm to School efforts, USDA recently held a “Farm to School” session at the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference sponsored by the Food Research and Action Center and America’s Second Harvest.  The session, which was held on March

          Federal regulation 7 CFR Part 3016.36(b) prohibits the awarding of contracts to any entity that develops or drafts specifications, requirements, statements of work, invitations for bids, requests for proposals, contract terms and conditions or other procurement documents.  This reminder is being re-issued since USDA continues to receive complaints that a number of school food authorities (SFAs) are not drafting their own specifications and procurement documents, but instead directly incorporating a list of features written by a prospective bidder.