Ensuring that the food provided to children in schools is consistent with current dietary recommendations is an important national focus. Various laws and regulations govern the operation of school meal programs. In 1995, Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements were put in place to ensure that all meals offered would be high in nutritional quality. School Meals reviews and provides recommendations to update the nutrition standard and the meal requirements for the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs. The recommendations reflect new developments in nutrition science, increase the availability of key food groups in the school meal programs, and allow these programs to better meet the nutritional needs of children, foster healthy eating habits, and safeguard children's health. School Meals sets standards for menu planning that focus on food groups, calories, saturated fat, and sodium and that incorporate Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Dietary Reference Intakes. This book will be used as a guide for school food authorities, food producers, policy leaders, state/local governments, and parents.

The rising cost of food and its impact on federal child nutrition programs : hearing before the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, hearing held in Washington, DC, July 9, 2008.

The production and use of ethanol in the U.S. have been steadily increasing since 2001, boosted in part by production subsidies. That growth has exerted upward pressure on the price of corn and, ultimately, on the retail price of food, affecting both individual consumers and fed. expend. on nutritional support programs. It has also raised questions about the environmental consequences of replacing gasoline with ethanol. This analysis examines the relationship between increasing production of ethanol and rising prices for food. It estimated how much of the rise in food prices between 4/07 and 4/08 was due to an increase on the production of ethanol and how much that increase in prices might raise fed. expend. on food assistance programs. Tables and graphs.