State support for universal free school meals has provided robust funding for school nutrition programs across the Commonwealth and is codified in law. These funds are to be used only on the operation and improvement of school meal programs. A focus should be to increase the nutritional quality of school meals by expanding the service of fresh, whole foods and decreasing the frequency of the serving of processed food. The Office for Food and Nutrition Programs (FNP), in partnership with the state School Meals Nutrition Standards Commission, has set clear goals for school meal programs in the Commonwealth. Additionally, the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans focuses on the drastic reduction of highly processed foods and federal rules pertaining to what comprises a reimbursable meal will soon reflect these changes. This memorandum is intended to update the November 27, 2023 memorandum by identifying more actionable ways districts should invest in their school nutrition programs to meet these standards.
Increased participation and changing menus require upskilling current staff and recruiting staff with new skills. Investing in your staff will support long-term growth and employee retention. Consider offering a culinary workshop to enhance culinary and equipment skills.
Skills that support compliant and thriving school meal programs are broad. Assistant Directors, District Chefs, Farm to School Coordinators, Registered Dietitians focused on menu planning, staff training and compliance are common administrative positions in school nutrition programs and necessary to meet current expectations. Extending frontline staff hours supports scratch cooking and recipe development. School Business Officials and Nutrition Directors should discuss the goals of the school nutrition program and the staffing needed to reach those goals.
Culinary Advancement Plan CECAP provides schools with access to a culinary consultant at no cost. The consultant will work with schools to assess current staff skills/readiness and help set goals that meet each school where they are. Advancing your staffs skills through prescribed professional development provided by various non-profit partners in Massachusetts including, but not limited to, John C Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition at Framingham State , and Project Bread who specialize in training School Nutrition Professionals.
The Chef Coaching Program is part of Culinary Advancement Plan CECAP and is designed to advance school meals program with the expertise and guidance of an experienced chef. This innovative and personalized 12-session program pairs a John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition JSI chef coach with your selected school to work on specific goals towards increasing scratch-cooking. The chef coach mentors your staff while integrating best practices for kitchen efficiencies, teamwork, and advancing culinary skills on-the-go.
As schools transition to more scratch cooking and accommodate high participation rates, many older kitchens and service lines do not meet the future needs of programs.
School Business Officials and Nutrition Directors should discuss needs related to new equipment, cold storage / freezers, meal service line or cafeteria seating, or trucks for food transportation or distribution, such as a food truck. Food and Nutrition Programs FNP previously released a list of pre-approved equipment purchases . Specific questions about renovations should be directed to Food and Nutrition Programs FNP's Financial Management Team to ensure the costs are allowable. See memorandum titled "Charging the Nonprofit School Food Service Account for Maintenance, Repair and Renovation Costs" for additional guidance on renovations as they related to the school nutrition programs.
Identify strategic opportunities for local sourcing by tracking your current food purchasing patterns. Food and Nutrition Programs FNP's non-profit partner Massachusetts Farm to School can provide consultation for local food sourcing, menu development, and promotion.
Strategically replacing heat and serve entrees and packaged food items with fresh, whole food ingredients will quickly improve participation and compliance with federal limitations on sodium and added sugar.
The Massachusetts Operational Services Division (OSD) will soon make available the GRO42 K–12 School Nutrition Products Statewide Contract that will provide opportunities for farms, food businesses, food hubs, fisheries, and producers to supply products to schools and other state entities. A new category is focused on locally sourced foods, expanding opportunities for Massachusetts-grown, raised, harvested, and produced products.
GRO42 supports K–12 school nutrition programs by helping connect buyers with Massachusetts-grown and locally sourced food products and offering a simplified purchasing process to acquire fresh local foods at competitive prices. The estimated contract start date is November 1, 2026.
The Northeast Food for Schools Challenge will help you understand how much you spend on foods grown in our region domestically and allows School Food Authorities access to FoodTrails; a food purchase tracking platform allowing School Food Authorities SFAs to create a baseline of current local purchasing levels and set a benchmark for future local spending. The Foodtrails platform allows districts to easily track local, domestic and non-domestic supporting compliance to the federal Buy American Provision non – domestic purchasing limits and provide aggregated information about food that is purchased to support purchasing decisions.
Preparing and serving fresh and appealing meals is an important story to share with the public. Districts can show off their nutritious school meals featuring local food and share the recipe with other districts through Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE's Terrific Trays Competition . Stay connected with Food and Nutrition Programs FNP by engaging with the School Meals Communication Plan for School Year 2026-2027.