Dive Brief:
- As the U.S. Department of Agriculture gears up to propose regulations that align school meals with the latest federal nutrition standards, some school nutrition leaders are urging the agency to not increase meat or meat alternate requirements for schools.
- In a March 9 letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, over 900 school districts, school nutrition professionals and organizations wrote that such a measure would add financial strain on school nutrition programs and risk missing out on other dietary components that are more likely to be underconsumed.
- The letter was sent a day before the School Nutrition Association announced its board of directors met with Trump administration officials, including Make America Healthy Again Advisor Calley Means, to discuss feedback and facts about school nutrition programs. SNA said the board also wanted to “correct misconceptions targeting school meal quality.”
Dive Insight:
School nutrition leaders’ concerns follow the Trump administration’s January release of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which give more priority to protein and saturated fats from meats, poultry, nuts, legumes and eggs.
The latest guidance also pushes for fewer ultra-processed foods and inverts the 1990s Food Guide Pyramid by emphasizing larger portions of proteins, dairy, vegetables and fruits at the broader top end of the pyramid and lower portions of whole grains at the bottom.
Now, the USDA has to develop regulations that align those federal nutrition guidelines with school meal requirements. The agency last updated its school meal nutrition standards in April 2024 under the Biden administration, which included new restrictions on added sugars and sodium in school meals.
Students already receive as much or more protein in current meal pattern requirements when compared to the Trump administration’s latest dietary guidelines, school nutrition advocates and leaders wrote in their March 9 letter to Rollins.
Additionally, the school nutrition leaders said there is room to improve the amount of fiber students eat in school meals.
“Fiber is associated with reducing all-cause mortality, colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, and improving gut health,” the letter said. “Increasing M/MA [meat or meat alternate] could crowd out fiber-rich foods on lunch and breakfast trays like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that are under-consumed by students.”
In response to the letter’s concerns over the USDA’s pending proposed regulations for school meals, a USDA spokesperson said in a March 11 statement to K-12 Dive that the agency is “deeply committed” to ensuring that schools offer nutritious, high-quality meals to students.
“School meals play a critical role in supporting children’s health, academic success, and overall well-being,” the spokesperson said. “That’s why we will continue to strengthen nutrition standards based on the latest science, expand access to real, nutrient-dense foods, and work with schools to provide meals that help kids thrive.”
Meanwhile, SNA said after its March 10 meeting with White House officials that the discussion was an opportunity for an “open and honest” dialogue about successful models in school meal programs, as well as the many challenges school nutrition programs face.
“To dispel misinformation about program funding and the depiction of school nutrition operations as simplistic, the discussion opened communication and addressed questions about the dire need for increased resources to further advance goals of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” SNA said in its White House post-meeting announcement.
As the USDA drafts its proposed changes to school nutrition standards to match the latest federal guidance’s focus on increasing protein and whole foods while reducing highly processed foods, SNA said, schools will need more funding to support scratch cooking and reduce their reliance on ultra-processed foods.
As part of that, the association has called on Congress to increase school meal funding and to protect and expand access to universal school meal programs, so the new changes to nutrition standards are achievable for schools.
In response to the March 9 letter, which also expressed concern over the new standards’ financial constraints on school meal programs, the USDA spokesperson highlighted that reimbursement rates for school meals are set annually by the agency to keep pace with food costs based on the Consumer Price Index for Food Away from Home.
