USDA's New Dietary Guidelines: Implications for School Meals

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets the rules for school meals in districts receiving federal funding, such as through the National School Lunch Program. These regulations are rooted in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which were recently updated in early January by the Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA. The revised guidelines emphasize protein consumption, encourage full-fat dairy, and recommend limiting highly processed foods.

Impact on School Meals

Processed Foods

Reducing highly processed foods, which are common in school meals due to limited kitchen infrastructure for scratch cooking, presents a challenge.

Many school facilities were initially designed for reheating prepared food rather than commercial-scale scratch cooking. While schools have successfully lowered sodium and sugar content in recent years through collaboration with food companies, further reductions may necessitate recipe adaptations and an increase in scratch cooking. A survey conducted by the School Nutrition Association indicates that most school nutrition programs would require better equipment, more trained staff, and additional funding to effectively transition to scratch cooking.

Protein Requirements

The new guidelines advocate for protein in every meal, which could significantly impact existing school breakfast standards, as they currently do not mandate protein. Offering a broader range of protein options, often found in animal products and cheese, is typically more expensive than grain-based alternatives.

If the USDA requires protein for breakfast under the School Breakfast Program, schools would likely need more funding.

Whole Milk

The updated dietary guidelines are supportive of full-fat dairy. Recent federal legislation has already reversed a previous rule, enabling schools to serve both reduced-fat and full-fat milk. This legislation also provided an exemption for milk fat from the general saturated fat limits in school meals. Consequently, schools can now offer whole milk without exceeding saturated fat restrictions.

Implementation Timeline

Changes to school meal regulations stemming from the new dietary guidelines will not be immediate.

The process involves the USDA proposing new rules, a public comment period, and the issuance of final rules.

Following this, schools and food companies are typically given a grace period to update recipes and implement the new standards. For example, current school nutrition standards that were initially proposed in February 2023 were finalized in April 2024, with initial menu changes not being required until July 2025.