Aramark Student Nutrition

On Saturday, June 25, the Keep Kids Fed Act, HR 8150, was signed into law after being amended by the Senate and passed in both chambers of Congress on Friday.

Key to school nutrition programs are two provisions of the law:

- The new law extends the USDA's meal flexibilities for summer meal programs through September 2022, which will allow schools and other sites to continue providing meals at no cost to students and their families this summer as well as relieve some administrative pressures. However, the law does not extend these flexibilities into School Year 2022-2023.

- The law also provides an additional increase to reimbursement rates for school meals: 40 cents for lunch, 15 cents for breakfast, and 10 cents for meals and snacks provided through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) as a temporary measure through SY22-23 amid supply chain challenges and rising costs for food and other expenses.

Critically, the law that was signed differs from the earlier version of the bill that would have allowed students normally eligible for reduced-price meals to instead continue receiving meals at no cost.

As a result, not only will some schools experience decreasing meal participation from students in the 'paid' meal category who were able to receive school meals at no-cost previously, they may also experience decreasing participation among students eligible for reduced-price meals. These students will return to having to pay the reduced rate but will no longer be able to receive their meals at no cost.

Aramark Student Nutrition continues to work with our partners to help ensure every student can get great-tasting meals with good nutrition that support their achievement in school and beyond the classroom. Through creative approaches like the use of food trucks or working with administrators to introduce and expand valuable programs like CACFP and Breakfast in the Classroom, our teams help students and districts alike succeed.

If you are seeking to better understand the impact of these changes or how Aramark Student Nutrition can support your district, contact us: https://lnkd.in/e5wHxeuz