USDA Strengthens School Meals for Millions of Children, Parents, and Caregivers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a series of major steps to improve the health of America's children through school meals. The Biden-Harris Administration plans to gradually lower sugar content and increase flexibility with menu planning, starting in Fall 2025, in response to listening to public feedback and the latest science-based recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This decision is a part of the Administration's strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. 30 million children receive school meals every day, with this being the main source of nutrition for more than half of those children, so it is important to ensure that these meals are as healthy as possible.

The changes to be implemented include:

• Added Sugars: For the first time, added sugars will be limited in school meals nationwide. Small changes will be implemented by Fall 2025, with full implementation by Fall 2027.
• Milk: Schools will be allowed to offer flavored and unflavored milk, but there will be a limit on the added sugars in flavored milk served at breakfast and lunch starting in Fall 2025.
• Sodium: Schools will be required to slightly reduce sodium content in their meals by Fall 2027.
• Whole Grains: There will be no changes to the current nutrition standards for whole grains, which emphasize nutrient-rich whole grains and give students the option to eat enriched grains to meet their taste preferences.
• Supporting Other Food Preferences: Starting in Fall 2024, schools will be allowed to serve protein-rich breakfast foods such as yogurt, tofu, eggs, nuts, and seeds and will be able to buy locally grown foods.
• Supporting Local Food Purchases: Also starting in Fall 2025, schools will be limited to the percentage of non-domestic grown and produced foods they can purchase, enhancing the role of American farmers, producers, fishers, and ranchers in providing nutritious foods to schools.

These changes were preceded by a proposal in February 2023, followed by a 90-day public comment period that resulted in over 136,000 public comments. USDA also held more than 50 listening sessions with different stakeholders, including state agencies, school districts, advocacy organizations, tribal stakeholders, professional associations, food manufacturers, and other federal agencies.

USDA is committed to supporting school nutrition programs, providing more purchasing power to buy American foods and enhancing grant programs for updating equipment, product innovation, staff training, and farm-to-school efforts that serve the needs of local school districts. This is a part of the USDA's goal of transforming America's food system, focusing on more local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, and removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.