Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins writes to remind schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any USDA Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Seamless Summer Option, of the many ways they can purchase local foods to serve in program meals.

The purpose of this memorandum is to remind schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any U.S. Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Seamless Summer Option, of the various resources available to help child nutrition program operators procure local foods. 

We are committed to supporting state agency efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse by further clarifying statutory, regulatory and administrative requirements through this guidance for the SFSP rural non-congregate meal service.

This memorandum provides information and guidance related to implementing the updated fluid milk options available to operators of the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Food Program, and the Special Milk Program for Children.

This memorandum provides notice to child nutrition program operators regarding the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.

The attached memorandum is intended for immediate distribution to state agencies in your region. Dissemination of this memorandum without changes will ensure uniform implementation of these legislative provisions.

As part of Secretary Rollins’ commitment to support American beef and create healthy outcomes for American children, the Farm to School Program is committed to working with CNP operators to help them source and serve local in program meals.

In this letter, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service urges state agencies to strengthen program integrity in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) by implementing robust oversight, training, and monitoring measures to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.

In this program guidance, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, strongly encourages child nutrition program operators to familiarize themselves with the key recommendations and consider how the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 can be incorporated into program meals and snacks to promote healthy outcomes and healthy families.

This memorandum provides revised guidance for school food authorities (SFAs) participating in the school meal programs regarding fees charged when families use electronic payment services to add money to school meal accounts. It also reminds SFAs that they must offer a free and accessible method for all families to add money to school meal accounts.