Meal Pattern Documentation

CN Label Documentation and Product Formulation Statements

Meal Pattern Information 

Grains

Meal Pattern Tools and Resources

  • Offering Meats and Meat Alternates at School Breakfast
    • This training guide provides menu planning ideas, crediting information, sample menus, and more, to show school nutrition professionals how to offer meats and meat alternates at school breakfast.
  • Offering Smoothies as Part of Reimbursable School Meals
    • This training guide provides menu planning ideas, crediting tips, sample menus, and more to show school nutrition professionals how both scratch-made and commercially-prepared smoothies can be offered as part of a reimbursable school breakfast or lunch.
  • Methods for Healthy Cooking
  • Team Nutrition School Lunch Menu e-poster
    • This resource is designed for school nutrition programs to display daily lunch menu options and remind students to eat a variety of foods while building a reimbursable meal. The fillable pdf file can be used for electronic message boards, webpages, and social media or can be printed and displayed in sign holders.
  • Navigating the Food Buying Guide Calculator
  • Menu Documentation Check List
  • Standardized Recipe Converter
  • Food Buying Guide
    • Two exciting new features have been added to the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) Interactive Web-based Tool. Both features are available under the Tools menu on the toolbar: 
      • Interactive flow chart on using the preparation yield walks users through when to use the Preparation Yield factor in the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW). 
      • An Ounces to Pounds Calculator allows users to easily convert ounces to pounds and pounds to ounces to make converting units a breeze! 
    • New foods are available in the FBG! New additions consist of USDA Foods frozen mixed vegetables and a variety of meat items including 11-, 43-, and 48-ounce pouched tuna; boneless, skinless chicken thighs; ground mutton, mutton shoulder chops and stew meat; catfish fillets; and USDA Foods canned pork. Stay tuned for additional yield data releases. 
  • Request for Applications: Healthy Meals Incentives Grants for Small and /or Rural School Food Authorities (SFA)
    • Eligibility Criteria:
      • SFA must participate in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program
      • SFA must meet the following definitions of small and/or rural:
        • Small SFA: SFA with an enrollment of less than or equal to 5,000 students.
        • Rural SFA: The majority of students within the SFA are enrolled in a rural school as defined by a locality code of 41, 42, or 43, according to the National Center for Education Statistics online tool.

Meal Pattern Exemptions

For further guidance, refer to the USDA Resources page