The USDA is soliciting feedback on unpaid meal charge policies nationwide as required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Commenters are asked to provide details on how their state or local educational agency addresses both the advantages and challenges of their unpaid meal charge policy and parents are invited to comment about how their children have been impacted by these policies, and to provide suggestions.
USDA Food & Nutrition Services will use the information it receives to prepare a report on the possibility of creating national standards for unpaid meal charges and to provide recommendations for implementing those standards, says Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for the USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services in a blog post on the USDA site. Information submitted to FNS will also help to develop “Best Practices” guidance to help schools create their own meal charge policies that balance access to nutritious meals and financially sustainability of foodservice programs, Thornton adds.
