Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

FNS has established the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food systems transformation, school food authority recognition and technical assistance, the generation and sharing of innovative ideas and tested practices, and grants.

Key Activities

Learn More

The Healthy Meals Incentives activities noted above are expected to increase utilization, and thereby demand, for nutritious agricultural commodities, such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits as well as food products that reflect various cultures. These efforts are also positioned to strengthen small and rural school food authorities’ access to nutritious agricultural commodities through food systems transformation and grants to small and rural school food authorities.

The collection and sharing of best practices regarding school food authorities’ use of nutritious agricultural commodities in school meals, as well as the incentivization of practices such as nutrition education (including farm to school nutrition education), use of local agricultural products in scratch cooking, and the development of culturally-diverse school meal menu items is also expected to indirectly benefit producers that supply food products to schools.

Page updated: November 27, 2023