School Meal Menu Requirements

Schools that participate in any Child Nutrition Program are required to follow a set of regulations or rules, around the foods they are allowed to serve. Meals and menus served in schools are designed to be both healthy and appealing for the students that eat them. Schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs must meet the following standards: 

• More fruits and vegetables: Since 2012, schools offer students larger portions of fruits and vegetables with every lunch. Vegetable choices must include weekly offerings of legumes, dark green and red/orange vegetables. Every school breakfast must offer students a full cup of fruits or vegetables. Students are required to take at least one half-cup serving of fruits or vegetables with every school breakfast and lunch.  
• Whole grains: All grains offered with school meals must be whole grain-rich.  
• Sodium limits: Schools must gradually reduce sodium levels in school meals to meet limits. 
• Limits on unhealthy fat: Meals cannot contain added trans-fat and no more than 10 percent of calories can come from saturated fat. 
• Low-fat and fat-free milk: Every school meal offers one cup of fat-free or 1% milk. 
• Calorie limits: School meals must meet age-appropriate calorie minimums and maximums: 

It seems like my child’s school isn’t always serving what shows on the school menus. What is going on?

Schools are facing the same challenges many grocery stores and other places are having with getting all the food and supplies they need. When this happens, school nutrition professionals are doing everything they can to serve healthy meals to your child. Sometimes that means needing to swap out some foods for others because some foods are easier to get. Please be patient with the school nutrition professionals striving to serve our kids. They are committed to making sure our kids get the healthy meals they depend on during this challenging time.