Newsroom

Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced a plan to ensure that low-income Americans have access to the nutrition they need. The plan provides full benefits for SNAP participants for the month of February.

FNCS Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps today highlighted the accomplishments of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service in 2018, from common-sense flexibilities for school meal providers to the agency’s vigorous response to provide food to the victims of coast-to-coast natural disasters.

Secretary Sonny Perdue today applauded the accomplishments made by USDA over the past year. USDA has continued enacting President Trump’s goals of regulatory reform, streamlining government, and refocusing USDA to be customer oriented.

Secretary Sonny Perdue today empowered local schools with additional options to serve healthy and appealing meals. A final rule on school meal flexibilities, to be published later this month in the Federal Register, increases local flexibility in implementing school nutrition standards for milk, whole grains, and sodium. Secretary Perdue said the final rule will deliver on USDA's promise, made in a May 2017 proclamation, to develop forward-thinking strategies that ensure school nutrition standards are both healthful and practical.

To provide relief from the impacts of Hurricane Michael, FNS will allow participants in the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 23 Georgia counties to buy hot foods with their benefits through Nov. 17, 2018.

Secretary Sonny Perdue yesterday hosted a roundtable with local school officials to learn more about how USDA can best assist and enable their efforts to serve nutritious meals to our nation’s children.

USDA today announced the projects selected to receive the its annual farm to school grants designed to increase the amount of local foods served in schools. Sixty-five projects were chosen nationwide.

FNS today announced $5.2 million in grant awards to bring nutritious, local foods into schools and create new economic opportunities for farmers. The grants will impact over 6,000 schools and 2.8 million students nationwide.

Deputy Secretary Steve Censky today announced two new efforts to provide states and school districts with additional flexibility and support to operate more efficient school meal programs. Censky made the announcement during a speech at the School Nutrition Association Legislative Action Conference.

USDA today announced a public invitation to submit ideas on food crediting, the system that defines how each food item fits into a meal for the National School Lunch Program and other federal child nutrition programs. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today provided local food service professionals the flexibility they need to serve wholesome, nutritious, and tasty meals in schools across the nation. The new School Meal Flexibility Rule, published today, makes targeted changes to standards for meals provided under USDA’s National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, and asks customers to share their thoughts on those changes with the Department.

Students in Georgia schools affected by Hurricane Irma will be provided free meals through the end of September, USDA announced today, along with additional flexibilities in federal child nutrition programs in Georgia and Florida aimed at making it easy for children to be fed.

FNS is actively working with officials in Texas and Louisiana to ensure that people impacted by Hurricane Harvey have access to food now and after emergency operations are completed.

Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced that USDA will provide greater flexibility in nutrition requirements for school meal programs in order to make food choices both healthful and appealing to students. 

FNS today awarded $6.7 million in grants during the back to school season to expand and enhance training for school nutrition and child care professionals working to support healthy environments for our nation’s youth. 

Today, the Obama Administration is announcing four final rules that implement important provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act building on the progress schools across the country have already made in the improved nutritional quality of meals served in schools.

Today, the USDA named 10 winners of its E.A.T. (Electronic Application Transformation) School Lunch U.X. Challenge, a public “hackathon” challenging individuals and organizations to revolutionize the way households apply for free and reduced price school meals. 

Schools across the United States purchased $789 million in local foods from farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food processors and manufacturers in school year 2013 – 2014, according to results from the USDA Farm to School Census released today. That represents a 105 percent increase over the 2011-2012 school year when the first census was conducted, signifying the deepening commitment of schools nationwide to bring local food into the cafeteria and strengthen their local economies.

As schools around the county take part in School Breakfast Week celebrations this week, the USDA commemorates the 50th anniversary of its School Breakfast Program by shining a light on the positive impacts of school breakfast.