Federal Register: Summer Food Service Program
On July 23, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the Federal Register notice, "Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request-Summer Food Service Program." This notice is a comment collection to obtain and record information from State Agencies and program operators on effectively managing the SFSP and ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory Program requirements. All comments are due September 21, 2021.
 
USDA Announces New Farm to School Grants
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it's awarding a record-breaking $12 million in Farm to School Grants for FY2021. The awarded projects will serve more than 1.4 million students at more than 6,800 schools. Read More

Get Back-to-School Resources from USDA Team Nutrition
USDA Team Nutrition offers a number of resources to help school nutrition professionals safely reopen schools, as well as tools for planning healthy meals, opportunities for peer learning and resource sharing and a back-to-school toolkit (coming in August). Learn More
What's So WILD About School Lunch?
Now is a great time to get started planning your WILD menu items for National School Lunch Week, October 11-15! With school meals FREE for all students in SY 2021-22 due to the pandemic, include in your messaging that it is a great time to give school lunch a try! New research shows that students get their heathiest meals at school! Learn More

Create Winning Campaigns
Download the artwork to use on your planning communications and start posting on social media with the hashtags #NSLW21 and #WILDSchoolLunch. We have an Amazonian-sized selection of fun jungle animals, digital banners and food items to unleash your creativity!

Get the Message Out!
Use our colorful new infographic to help get your message out to parents and the community. As school meals programs begin to rebuild, it is more important than ever to communicate the importance of a nutritious and healthy school lunch and find fun ways promote your program. Learn More

Shop, Shop, Shop!
Trek on over to the SNA NSLW Shop to preview all the new WILD merchandise! You’ll find budget-friendly items and other wearables to outfit your School Lunch Safari team. Download the brochure and place your order early for the best selection!

1950
The year the Oklahoma School Food Service Association became the first state to officially join as a state affiliate at the Dallas convention. Other state-based organizations begin affiliating in 1950, starting with Arkansas, Florida, Oregon, Connecticut and Virginia. By 1962, the rest of the states and the District of Columbia had established affiliated state organizations.

Celebrate 75 years of school nutrition with A Brilliant History of Serving Kids
The Salad Bars in Schools Expansion Act
Representative Frederica Wilson (D-FL) introduced H.R. 4344, the Salad Bars in Schools Expansion Act. This bill requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish and implement a five-year program of competitive grants to promote the use of salad bars in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This legislation directs USDA to grant priority to those schools where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches or located in food deserts. Read Congresswoman Wilson's full press release.

FNS Releases Results from Study on School Meals Application Verification
On July 20, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the results from its "Study of Nonresponse to the School Meals Application Verification Process." It was an in-depth case study that used data from a sample of 20 large school districts in 8 different metropolitan areas. This study was meant to examine the accuracy of the current verification process, current district practices when verifying applications, and the ultimate verification process results, including why households do not respond to verification requests and how many families reapply. Read the full report.
Find a Job Through the SNA Career Center
Visit the SNA Career Center to check out job postings in school nutrition. This week’s featured jobs: Executive Director Kentucky School Nutrition Association in Kentucky, Nutrition Services Manager in Oregon, Nutrition Services Supervisor in Washington and Child Nutrition Specialist in Oregon. Learn More

School Nutrition’s June/July issue featured “Making the Most of Harvest of the Month,” chock-full of easy, effective strategies to launch or expand a Harvest of the Month (HOTM) cafeteria-led nutrition education initiative. If you’re beginning to contemplate how you might use HOTM in the upcoming 2021-22 school year, start is with materials developed by agencies within state departments of agriculture, education or health services, as well as by notable partners in the area. Get the Resources
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