Frequently Asked Questions

National School Lunch & Breakfast Programs

Requirements for Meal Content and Quality

Competitive Foods

Accommodations for Children with Special Dietary Needs

Free and Reduced Price Meals

Denial of Meals

Program Participation

Requirements for Meal Content and Quality

What items must be part of a school lunch or breakfast?

School meals are required to meet the specifications set forth in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Schools have a great deal of flexibility in deciding which menu planning approach they choose to show they meet the standards. Nutrient Standard Menu Planning allows the school to use a computer to analyze all the foods offered. Assisted Nutrient Standard Menu Planning allows the school to select a menu which has been analyzed by another entity. Food Based Menu Planning requires the schools to serve foods by food group and meet a serving requirement each day. The state office will analyze this type of menu for nutritional compliance.

Do children have to select everything that is offered?

By law, children in senior high school must be permitted to decline lunch items they do not intend to eat. Program regulations allow schools to elect to extend this permission to elementary and junior high school children as well. This means that high school children in a school using Food Based Menu Planning may decline as many as two of the five items in a lunch, and younger children may decline one or two items depending on local policy. If lunches are prepared using Nutrient Standard Menu Planning, children may decline one item other than the entrée. For breakfast, a child may decline one item regardless of which menu planning system is used.

What can be done to improve the meals served in schools?

School meals must look and taste good if children are going to eat them. This issue is most effectively addressed at the local level through the efforts of concerned parents. We encourage parents to become involved in their children's school meals and to bring concerns and suggestions to the attention of the local district and/or school. Contact the district or school and ask to speak to the school food service director.

Following is a checklist of ten steps that parents can take to ensure that school meals are healthy, nutritious and appealing:
  1. Eat breakfast or lunch at school with your children. See what the meals are like. Notice the atmosphere. If you don't like what you see, contact the school and the district and work to change it.
  2. Make your opinions heard. Talk to other parents. Work with your PTA, the school food service director and school board to support healthy school meals.
  3. Go to the principal. Discuss the importance of good nutrition and physical activity. Suggest programs. Ask for cooperation. Most importantly, follow through.
  4. Get a weekly menu of school meals. Ask for the nutrition facts so you can be sure the menu meets the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Keep the menu tacked to your refrigerator and discuss the healthy choices with your children.
  5. Visit the school cafeteria. Get to know the staff. Let them know you value their services and appreciate good daily nutrition for your child.
  6. Show your children and their friends where healthy food comes from. Help your school start an edible landscape with a garden of goodies like fruits, vegetables and herbs.
  7. Volunteer to organize a classroom tasting party to introduce and encourage nutritious new foods the children may never have tried.
  8. Get involved. Form a parent advisory committee for school meals or a school health advisory panel. Recruit enthusiastic "can do" people to work with you.
  9. Make sure your children appreciate how healthy breakfasts and lunches serve their minds as well as their bodies.
  10. Listen to what your children are learning at school about good nutrition. You can help them put their knowledge to work at home, too.

Competitive Foods

Are items such as carbonated beverages allowed to be sold in schools?

Carbonated beverages are listed in the regulations as a food of minimal nutritional value. As such, their sale is prohibited in the serving and eating areas during the meal service. Regulations cannot prohibit the sale of foods of minimal nutritional value outside of the meal service, but local schools have the authority to do so, and many have adopted such restrictions.

What is the Department of Agriculture doing to address the sale of carbonated beverages in schools?

Because children have so many opportunities to select foods both inside and outside the school, the issue of competitive foods must be addressed through education and awareness rather than just through regulation. Regulations govern the meal time service, but they do not speak to foods sold outside the meal service. Parents can help children understand the principles of sound nutrition and making healthy food choices. Much of what children learn about eating, they learn at home. Local schools and districts may make rules regarding the sale of carbonated beverages during non-meal service.

Accommodations for Children with Special Dietary Needs

Are schools required to make menu substitutions for children who cannot eat the regular lunch or breakfast?

Federal law and the regulations for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program require schools to make accommodations for children who are unable to eat the school meal as prepared because of a disability. In order to make substitutions for items in reimbursable meals, the school must have on file a written statement signed by a licensed physician indicating what the child's disability is, what foods must be omitted from the child's diets, and what foods must be substituted.
Schools may, at their option, make substitutions for persons who have special needs that do not meet the definition of disability under federal law. In these instances, the school must have a written statement signed by a recognized medical authority (physician, physician's assistant, nurse practitioner, registered dietitian or a nurse) indicating what foods should be substituted.

Free and Reduced Price Meals

What are the eligibility standards for free and reduced price meals?

Schools are required to serve meals at no charge to children whose household income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines. Children are entitled to pay a reduced price if their household income is above 130% but below 185% of these guidelines. Current income and family size criteria can be found at the USDA website here. Children are automatically eligible for free meals if their household receives food stamps, benefits under the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or, the child receives benefits under Utah's Family Employment Program.

What income is counted in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals?

For the most part, all income received by the household is counted. This includes salary, public assistance benefits, social security payments, pensions, unemployment compensation and the like. For complete information, contact the school or the food service director of the district your child attends.

If a child and the child's parent live with the child's grandparent, must the grandparent's income be included on the application for free and reduced price meals?

A household is defined as a group of related or unrelated individuals who are not residents of an institution or boarding house but who are living as one economic unit. This means they generally reside in the same house and share expenses such as rent, utilities and food. In this example, therefore, the grandparent's income would be considered along with any income received by the parent and the grandparents would be counted in the household size. Foster children are an exception to this rule because they remain the legal responsibility of the court. A foster child is considered a "household of one," and only the income actually made available to the child for personal expenses is counted in making the eligibility determination.

Our family has very high medical bills. Do we qualify for free meals for our children?

All income received by the household is counted and medical bill deductions or subtractions are not allowed. Qualification for free or reduced price meals is based on family income (without subtracting outstanding bills due or other financial obligations).

We received a letter in the mail telling us that our children were certified to receive free meals and were told to bring the letter to the school, but we have lost the letter. How can we get another copy?

A duplicate copy of the letter is not available. Simply complete an application for free and reduced price meals noting the case number of each child receiving Food Stamp, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or Family Employment Program benefits, sign the application and turn the application in at the child's school.

Denial of Meals

Are schools required to replace meal tickets if they are lost or stolen?

Schools may limit the number of meal tickets (or other media of exchange) they will replace for each child. If a school does elect to establish a limit on replacements for children eligible for free or reduced price meals, it must meet the following requirements. First, each child must be allowed a minimum of three replacements each school year. Secondly, parents and students must be advised in writing at the time of application that the school is adopting this policy. Thirdly, the school must maintain a list of children who have reported lost and stolen tickets and the number of occurrences for each child. At least one advance warning must be given to the child and his or her parents prior to refusing to replace a ticket.
Schools must always provide meals to preprimary and younger primary students or to students with disabilities that may make them unable to take full responsibility for their meal tickets, but the school may provide an alternate meal, and not the reimbursable meal, to the student.

Can schools refuse to serve a child who pays the full price but forgets his or her money?

All full price policies for school meals are matters of local discretion. This includes decisions about whether or not to extend credit to children who forget their meal money or whether or not to provide an alternate meal to such children. Therefore, a school could decide not to provide meals to children who must pay the full price for their meals but do not have the money to do so. In some cases, the PTA or other school organization may establish a fund to pay for children who forget or lose their money. Schools should ensure that parents are fully aware of the policy adopted for children who do not have their meal money.

Program Participation

How does a school apply for National School Lunch or Breakfast participation?

All non-profit private and public schools are eligible to apply for the program. We have a videotape which explains the responsibilities of participation. Contact us at 538-7680 to learn more about the requirements.

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