Culturally Relevant Meals - Wins in New USDA Regs

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Amoreena Guerrero

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May 31, 2024, 2:52:15 PMMay 31

to Portland Farm & Garden Educators Network

Good news out of the National Farm to School Network about USDA Food and Nutrition Service updating regulations to support the inclusion of culturally relevant meals, especially of traditional Indigenous foods into the school cafeteria menu.

Check out the message below for alot more details. Thanks Melina Barker from Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network, for sharing more broadly!

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Karen Spangler <ka...@farmtoschool.org>
Date: Fri, May 17, 2024 at 9:39 AM
Subject: [NFSN Partners] Culturally Relevant Meals - Wins in New USDA Regs
To: <part...@farmtoschool.org>
Cc: Ryan Betz <ry...@farmtoschool.org>, Cassandra Bull <cass...@farmtoschool.org>

Hello Partners,

In April, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced the release of its final durable rule for updates to the nutrition standards and meal patterns for school, early care and education, and out-of-school programs. This new regulation contains some big wins for farm to school (see our recent blog post here for an overview of the provisions)! While issues like sodium grab the headlines, we wish to draw your attention to several measures within this rule that advance more culturally relevant meals, incorporation of culturally important foods, and flexibility to meet more diverse dietary needs.

The final rule:

Explicitly states in regulation that traditional Indigenous foods may be served as part of a reimbursable school meal. (Including it in the regulation is a stronger and clearer statement than the previous non-binding guidance from USDA.) It also provides a definition of “Traditional Indigenous foods” drawn from the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2014, which defines traditional food as “food that has traditionally been prepared and consumed by an [American] Indian tribe,” including wild game meat, fish, seafood, marine mammals, plants, and berries. (In effect as of July 1, 2024; see more on the regulation in the Federal Register here)
Allows Tribally operated schools/school food authorities, those operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, and those serving primarily American Indian or Alaska Native children to serve vegetables to meet the grains requirement. It also expands this allowance to Guam and Hawaii. Previously rules allowed program operators in American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to serve vegetables such as yams, plantains, or sweet potatoes to meet the grains or breads component. (In effect as of July 1, 2024; see more on this provision in the Federal Register here)
Will allow beans, peas, and lentils offered toward the “meats/meat alternates” meal component to also count toward the weekly vegetable subgroup requirement; it will also allow nuts and seeds to credit for 100% of the meats/meat alternates component. This will further encourage programs to incorporate these protein sources into meal patterns. (Both of these come into effect on July 1, 2024.)
Codify that state licensed healthcare professionals, including registered dietitians, may write medical statements to request modifications on behalf of students. This is important for racial equity in meal programs, as certain student populations of African-American or Native American descent are more likely to have issues like lactose intolerance that don’t fit Eurocentric assumptions on diet patterns.

NFSN and our stakeholders provided comments in support of more culturally appropriate meal patterns, and procurement of culturally important foods, so that these foundational child nutrition programs can reflect and celebrate their communities. Also, by making it clear that Child Nutrition Programs will reimburse for certain products, purchasers will have greater clear authority to source these products from local or Tribal producers.

We want to hear from you! How will these changes impact your programs? What questions do you have? Do you have a story you would like to share about why culturally relevant meal patterns are so important for your kids, farmers, and communities? If so, we would like to highlight these perspectives!

We also want to raise awareness about these changes as widely as possible. Please reach out with your quotes, stories, or ideas to help us spread the word! Please reach out with any questions to me (ka...@farmtoschool.org) or our Policy Specialists, Ryan Betz (ry...@farmtoschool.org) and Cassandra Bull (cass...@farmtoschool.org).

All the best,

Karen

	Karen Spangler, MPP, MUP (she/her/hers) Policy Director, National Farm to School Network
	248.535.3709 \| Based in Washington, D.C.
	ka...@farmtoschool.org
	www.farmtoschool.org