FAQs

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and
the real world circumstances of America’s schools. (For more information on the standards available to school menu planners, click here.)  

  Do children have to select everything that is offered?

By law, children in high school must be permitted to decline lunch items they do not intend to eat. The program regulations allow schools to elect to extend this permission to elementary and junior high school children as well. This means that high school children may decline as many as two of the five items in a food-based lunch, and younger children may decline one or two items depending on local policy. For breakfast, a child may decline one item regardless of which menu planning option is used.  

  What can be done to improve the meals served in schools?

We recognize that school meals must look and taste good if children are going to eat them. To address this need, we have developed and distributed a wide range of materials designed to provide local meal planners with recipes and other tools to help them prepare appealing school meals. To learn more about these materials, click here. To learn about education materials designed for children and their families, click here.

We are also actively working with our State partners to provide training and technical assistance to local schools. Ultimately, however, this issue is most effectively addressed at the local level through the efforts of concerned parents. We actively encourage parents to become involved in their children’s school meals and to bring concerns and suggestions to the attention of local officials. Following is a checklist of ten steps that parents should take to ensure that school meals are healthy, nutritious and appealing.

1. Eat breakfast or lunch at school with your children. See what the meals are like. Notice the atmosphere. If you don’t like what you see, do something.

2. Make your opinions heard. Talk to other parents. Work with your PTA and school board to support healthy school meals.

3. Go to the principal. Discuss the importance of good nutrition and physical activity. Suggest programs. Ask for cooperation. Most importantly, follow through.

4. Get a weekly menu of school meals. Ask for the nutrition facts so you can be sure the menu meets the official Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (Click here for a PDF version of the guidelines applicable to the school meal programs.) Keep the menu magnetized to your refrigerator. Discuss all the healthy choices with your children.

5. Visit the school cafeteria. Get to know the staff. Let them know you value their services and appreciate good daily nutrition for your child.

6. Show your children and their friends where healthy food comes from. Help your school start an edible landscape with a garden of goodies like fruits, vegetables and herbs.

7. Volunteer to organize a classroom tasting party to introduce and encourage nutritious new foods the children may never have tried.

8. Get involved. Form a parent advisory committee for school meals. Recruit enthusiastic "can do" people to work with you.

9. Make sure your children appreciate how healthy breakfasts and lunches serve their minds as well as their bodies.

10. Listen to what your children are learning at school about good nutrition. You can help them put their knowledge to work at home, too.  

The regulations for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program do not prohibit the sale of foods in competition with reimbursable meals as long as those foods are not considered to be foods of minimal nutritional value (see below). Foods that may be sold in the cafeteria during the meal service include items that are part of the reimbursable meal but are purchased separately (seconds, for example) or items such as ice cream that are not credited as a component of a reimbursable meal but are not considered to be a food of minimal nutritional value. Competitive foods could also include foods sold in the cafeteria by school organizations as long as the revenues from these sales go to the food service, the school or an approved student organization.

The program regulations prohibit the sale of certain categories of foods of minimal nutritional value in the food service area during the breakfast and lunch periods. These categories (which include carbonated beverages and certain candies) are so designated because they do not provide at least 5 percent of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for any one of several key nutrients. For a complete discussion of the categories of foods of minimal nutritional value, including the criteria for making this designation, click here.

Federal regulations do not prohibit the sale of foods of minimal nutritional value elsewhere on the school grounds. However, States and local schools have the authority to do so, and many have adopted such restrictions.  

Because children have so many opportunities to select foods both inside and outside the school, the issue of competitive foods must be addressed through education and awareness rather than just through regulation. USDA certainly recognizes its obligation to work closely with State and local food service professionals to ensure that children have appealing and nutritious breakfasts and lunches available in the school cafeteria.

However, since other foods are available elsewhere in the school, we have forged an active partnership with the U. S. Department of Education to ensure that the education community is aware of these nutrition issues and can lend its support to our efforts. This partnership is particularly important because, in many communities, the sale of carbonated beverages in the schools represents a significant source of revenue to purchase equipment and supplies for the schools.

For these reasons, we are working directly with the education community to create and nurture a physical environment that fosters healthy eating choices and experiences. As a first step, in June 1999, we conducted a forum where school officials, educators and health experts from around the country had the opportunity to discuss the role of school environments on healthy eating behavior and to suggest ways to foster change. In response to that forum, we have developed an Action Kit to Promote Healthy School Environments (click here). This Kit lays out in plain language the kinds of things that schools and communities can do to promote good nutrition and includes materials that can be used to educate people on the issues raised during the forum.

Most importantly, the family needs to be involved in helping children to understand the principles of sound nutrition and to make healthy food choices. So much of what children learn about eating, they learn at home. In recognition of this basic fact, Team Nutrition is developing and distributing materials designed to educate children, their parents and the community at large about the importance of sound nutrition and the necessity for children to eat balanced meals. To learn more about these materials, click here. Ultimately, we expect that these efforts will lead children to choose healthier diets, not only in school but also throughout their lives.  

Accommodations for Children with Special Dietary Needs

  Are schools required to make menu substitutions for children who cannot eat the regular lunch or breakfast?

Federal law and the regulations for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program require schools to make accommodations for children who are unable to eat the school meal as prepared because of a disability. Accommodation generally involves substituting food items, but in some cases schools may need to make more far reaching accommodations to meet the needs of children. For example, some children may need to have the texture modified.

In order to make substitutions for items in reimbursable meals, the school must have on file a written statement signed by a licensed physician indicating what the child’s disability is, what foods must be omitted from the child’s diet, and what foods must be substituted.

Schools may, at their option, make substitutions for persons who have special needs that do not meet the definition of disability under Federal law. In these instances, the school must have a written statement signed by a recognized medical authority (e.g., nurse or physician’s assistant) indicating what foods should be substituted.

The purpose of requiring a written statement is two-fold. First, it ensures that the nutrition integrity of the school meal will not be compromised by the substitution. More importantly, it ensures that decisions about specific food substitutes are made by persons who are highly qualified to prescribe them. Therefore, this requirement helps to protect both the child and the food service personnel who are working to meet the child’s needs.  

A physician is a person licensed by the State to practice medicine. The term includes osteopathic physicians or doctors of osteopathic medicine. These are fully trained physicians who are licensed by the State to prescribe medication or to perform surgery. A recognized medical authority is a licensed physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or other health professional specified by the State agency.  

Free and Reduced Price Meals

Schools are required to serve meals at no charge to children whose household income is at or below 130 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines. Children are entitled to pay a reduced price if their household income is above 130 percent but at or below 185 percent of these guidelines. The current income and family size criteria can be found under the Income Eligibility Guidelines elsewhere on this web site. Children are automatically eligible for free school meals if their household receives food stamps, benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or, in most cases, benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  

For the most part, all income actually received by the household is counted. This includes salary, public assistance benefits, social security payments, pensions, unemployment compensation and the like. The only exceptions are benefits under Federal programs which, by law, are excluded from consideration; in-kind benefits, such as military on-base housing (but not military housing allowances); certain kinds of assistance for students and irregular income from occasional small jobs such as baby-sitting or lawn mowing. For complete information, contact the school or the agency that administers the school nutrition programs in your State. 

A household is defined as a group of related or unrelated individuals who are not residents of an institution or boarding house but who are living as one economic unit. This means they generally reside in the same house and share expenses such as rent, utilities and food. In this example, therefore, the grandparent’s income would be considered along with any income received by the parent. The principal exception to this rule would be payments for foster children, who live with a household but remain the legal responsibility of the court or welfare agency. In these situations, the child is considered to be a "household of one", and only the income actually made available to the child for personal expenses is counted in making the eligibility determination.  

Schools may limit the number of meal tickets (or other media of exchange) they will replace for each child. If a school does elect to establish a limit on replacements for children eligible for free or reduced price meals, it must meet the following requirements. First, each child must be allowed a minimum of three replacements each school year. Secondly, parents and students must be advised in writing at the time of application that the school is adopting this policy. Thirdly, the school must maintain a list of children who have reported lost and stolen tickets and the number of occurrences for each child. Prior to denying a replacement, the list must be checked to see if the child has reached the limit on replacements. Finally, at least one advance warning must be given to the child and his or her parents prior to refusing to replace a ticket.

Schools must always provide meals to preprimary and younger primary students or to students with disabilities that may make them unable to take full responsibility for their meal tickets. The school may also, at its option make appropriate alternate meal arrangements, such as accompanying the child through the line, in lieu of actually issuing a replacement ticket.

While we recommend that schools adopt a similar policy for children who pay the full price for their meals, they are not required to do so. However, if the school does not have a uniform policy for all children, it must take care to ensure that needy children are not overtly identified because of the replacements or arrangements.  

All full price pricing policies for school meals are matters of local discretion. This includes decisions about whether or not to extend credit to children who forget their meal money or whether or not to provide an alternate meal to such children. Therefore, a school could decide not to provide meals to children who must pay the full price for their meals but do not have the money to do so.

However, while schools are not obligated to provide meals to children who forget their money, USDA encourages schools to be flexible in this area, particularly with young children and children with disabilities who may be unable to take full responsibility for their money. We encourage schools to provide some credit for these children or serve an alternate meal. In some cases, the PTA or other school organization may establish a fund to pay for children who forget or lose their money. At a minimum, schools should ensure that parents are fully aware of the policy adopted for children who do not have their meal money.  

Also see Frequently Asked Questions for the following programs:

• National School Lunch Program

• School Breakfast Program

• Child and Adult Care Food Program

• Summer Food Service

• Special Milk Program

• Afterschool Snacks

Last modified: 01/29/2013