California State Meal Mandate

The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division has updated two resources pertaining to the California (CA) Universal Meals Program (UMP) which can be accessed using the links below:

• CDE Management Bulletin SNP–02–2024: California State Meal Mandate provides guidance on California’s updated state meal mandate, since the implementation of the CA Universal Meals Program. This management bulletin is available at the School Nutrition Programs Management Bulletins web page.
  
  
• CDE UMP Implementation Guidelines address all aspects of implementing the UMP to ensure compliance with both state and federal requirements. These guidelines have been updated to reflect recent CA Education Code changes, and are available at the California Universal Meals web page, under the Guidelines Tab.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding the subject, please contact your county’s School Nutrition Program (SNP) Specialist. A list of SNP Specialists is available on the California Department of Education School Nutrition Programs Specialist Directory web page.