National School Lunch Program

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is requesting to waive National School Lunch Program (NSLP) requirements at 42 U.S.C. 1753(b)(1)(A) and 1758(a)(3), and under Program regulations at 7 CFR sections 210.10(e) and 210.10(l), and School Breakfast Program (SBP) requirements at 42 U.S.C. 1773(b)(1)(A), and under Program regulations at 7 CFR 220.8(l), to allow school food authorities to offer non-congregate school meals to students fasting during Ramadan in school year (SY) 2024-2025.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is requesting prospective waivers for non-congregate meal service in school year (SY) 2024-25 for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP),  and the NSLP Seamless Summer Option (SSO).

Beginning in Summer 2024, New York State is implementing Summer EBT, a new federal program to help low-income households with children purchase food over the summer when school is out of session and children can no longer rely on access to free/reduced price school meals.

On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (89 FR 31962, April 25, 2024). Among other provisions, this rule finalizes regulations that strengthen the School Meal Programs’ Buy American provision.

The following memo was released by USDA and can be found at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/f2s/geographic-preference-expansion.

On April 25, 2024, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the final rule titled, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which is the next step in continuing the science-based improvement of school meals.

A full description of all provisions, implementation timelines and additional resources can be found here:
Updates to the School Nutrition Standards | Food and Nutrition Service (usda.gov)

The New York State Education Department, Child Nutrition Program Office is thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Harvest NY, to host the first ever NY Farm to School Summit with the theme:It takes a Village; Cultivating Community in Farm to School !

The inaugural Summit will take place in Syracuse, NY, at the OnCenter, this November 21st and 22^nd with optional pre-Summit field trips on November 20th.

**This updates the June 22, 2023 memo from the Department of Agriculture and Markets.**

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 established requirements for SFAs conducting outreach for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).  SFAs may distribute information through means normally used to communicate with households of enrolled children. Acceptable outreach activities may include developing and distributing printed and electronic materials that provide information on the availability and location of summer meals to families of school children prior to the end of the school year.  Here are some outreach strategies for you:

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is now approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to offer waivers to allow school food authorities (SFAs) to serve non-congregate meals to children who celebrate Ramadan. During Ramadan, students fast or refrain from eating during typical daylight hours, including when school breakfast and/or lunch is served. These waivers allow SFAs to provide students who attend school and are fasting during Ramadan with non-congregate breakfast and lunch meals to consume after daylight hours.

These waivers may only be used: