USDA Is Making It Easier for Schools to Understand Rules for Buying Local Food

USDA rules allow schools and other Child Nutrition Program operators to give preference to qualifying locally grown, raised, or caught foods when making purchases. A new rule simplifies the regulatory language without requiring schools to change what they serve. Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock

Schools, child-care centers, and summer meal programs already have the option to prioritize certain locally produced foods when making purchases with federal child nutrition funds. Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is simplifying the language explaining how that option works. USDA issued a direct final rule on September 9, updating regulatory wording related to the geographic preference option used across several federal Child Nutrition Programs. The agency says the revisions are intended to make existing requirements easier to understand and do not change the meaning or implementation of the regulations. For parents, that means there isn’t a new requirement forcing schools to serve locally produced food. Instead, the change is aimed primarily at the people responsible for purchasing food for participating programs.

Schools Already Have More Flexibility to Buy Local