Changing how school districts use USDA foods: What are the policy opportunities?

School meal programs feed approximately half of school children in the US, and thus play an important role in student nutrition. In addition to cash reimbursements, schools receive USDA Foods (formerly “commodities”), which make up one-fifth of food used in school meals; their nutritional contribution to these meals is significant. While USDA Foods can be used as minimally processed ingredients in meals, schools divert over half of USDA Foods to processors, often resulting in less healthy heat-and-serve entrees. Little is known about the policies that influence how USDA Foods are used in school meals.

Nineteen stakeholder interviews were conducted to determine challenges, facilitators and policy opportunities to using USDA Foods as minimally processed ingredients in school meals. Stakeholders included national and state program administrators, processors, district food service directors and school nutrition advocates. Responses were entered into a database software and analyzed for common themes across stakeholders.

Findings indicated a need for policies to: increase state and federal technical assistance and training to schools; simplify and streamline USDA Foods administrative program requirements; provide incentives to use minimally processed USDA Foods; improve communication between schools and federal/state agencies; and help address school-level barriers, such as labor, equipment or facilities costs, to using minimally processed USDA Foods in school meals.

Schools need support at the district, state and federal levels in order to reduce meal program dependence on highly processed entrees. Policy opportunities exist that can help schools change how they use USDA Foods and address the barriers to making these changes