Title: School Meals FAQs | USDA-FNS
Headings: School Meals FAQs
School Meals FAQs
Requirements for Meal Content and Quality
Accommodations for Children with Special Dietary Needs
Free and Reduced Price Meals
Denial of Meals
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Content: School Meals FAQs | USDA-FNS
School Meals FAQs
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Child Nutrition Programs
People often call the Child Nutrition Division to ask questions about how benefits are provided under the school meal programs or to find out what schools are required to do to receive reimbursement under these programs. This page provides answers to many of these questions. The questions and answers are arranged by category. If you do not find the information you are looking for or if you want a more technical explanation, you should contact the agency that administers the programs in your state. Requirements for Meal Content and Quality
What items must be part of a school lunch or breakfast? School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools. ( For more information on the standards available to school menu planners, visit the Healthy Meals Resource System .) Do children have to select everything that is offered? By law, children in high school must be permitted to decline lunch items they do not intend to eat.