Biden-Harris Administration announces changes to school nutrition menus

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced changes to school nutrition guidelines impacting the meals students are served in schools across America. In an announcement on Wednesday, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced six major steps to take between Fall 2025 and Fall 2027 to school nutrition in schools, which include less sugar and greater flexibility with menu planning.

“We all share the goal of helping children reach their full potential,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Like teachers, classrooms, books, and computers, nutritious school meals are an essential part of the school environment, and when we raise the bar for school meals, it empowers our kids to achieve greater success inside and outside of the classroom. Expanding on this major milestone, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to partner with schools, districts, states, and industry to build on the extraordinary progress made to strengthen school meals.”

Currently, K-12 schools in the United States serve breakfast and lunch to nearly 30 million children daily. According to the press release from the U.S. Department of Education, key updates to the nutrition standards to support healthy kids include:

Added Sugars in School Nutrition

• Added sugars will be limited in school meals nationwide, with small changes happening by Fall 2025 and full implementation by Fall 2027. In phase 1, specific products (cereals, yogurt, flavored milk) will be limited. While in phase 2 there will be an overall weekly limits.

Milk

• Schools can continue to offer flavored and unflavored milk, which provides nutrients that children need, such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium. There will be a new limit on added sugars in flavored milk served at breakfast and lunch by Fall 2025.

Sodium

• Schools will need to slightly reduce the sodium content of their meals by Fall 2027. The USDA is only requiring one sodium reduction, not the three incremental reductions proposed last year.

Whole Grains

• Current nutrition standards for whole grains will not change. Schools will continue to offer students a variety of nutrient-rich whole grains and have the option to offer some enriched grains to meet students’ cultural and taste preferences.

Supporting Other Food Preferences in School Nutrition

While not a new requirement, starting in Fall 2024, schools will be able to serve protein-rich breakfast foods such as yogurt, tofu, eggs, nuts, and seeds. This can help reduce sugary food options while supporting vegetarian diets and other food preferences.

Supporting Local Food Purchases

• Also, starting in Fall 2024, schools can require unprocessed agricultural products to be locally grown, raised, or caught when making purchases for school meal programs, making it easier for schools to buy local foods. Additionally, starting in Fall 2025, schools will have limits on the percentage of non-domestic grown and produced foods they can purchase, which will enhance the role of American farmers, producers, fishers, and ranchers in providing nutritious foods to schools.

These changes are a part of the Biden-Harris national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030 set forth at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September 2022.

“The new standards build on the great progress that school meals have made already and address remaining challenges – including reducing sugar in school breakfasts. These updates also make it easier for schools to access locally sourced products, benefiting both schools and the local economy,” said USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long.

As part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, 264 small and rural school districts each received up to $150,000 to equip them with the resources to improve their meal service operations and help them meet these updated nutrition standards.