School Breakfast Meal Pattern Requirements

Course Description

This training describes how breakfast relates to children's health and achievement, the benefits of eating breakfast, and the daily and weekly requirements for a reimbursable breakfast. A variety of types of breakfast service is included as well as resources to provide and promote nutritious school breakfasts.

• Course Number: 131
• Training Length: 30 minutes
• Certificate: Available at the end of the training
• Target Audience: Food Service Director and Staff
• Mandatory: No
• Cost: Free
• Date Recorded: October 2019

Online Course

Please note that this training reflects the 2018 final meal pattern rule which codified three menu planning flexibilities for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). However, due to an overturn of the meal pattern flexibilities, school sponsors are required to once again follow the 2012 meal pattern requirements in School Year 2020–21 including:

• All grains served must be whole grain-rich
• Flavored milk, if offered may only be nonfat
• School lunches and breakfasts offered must meet Target 2 weekly sodium levels

Updates to this web page and training are pending action related to the proposed rule Restoration of Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Flexibilities .

Refer to the California Department of Education (CDE) Breakfast Meal Pattern (Grades K–12) web page for the most up-do-date information on the meal pattern requirements.

Begin the School Breakfast Meal Pattern Requirements course.

Referenced Resources

The following resources are referred to throughout this online course:

• CDE Breakfast Meal Pattern (Grades K–12) web page
  
  
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Offer versus Serve Guidance for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) (PDF)
  
  
• USDA Whole Grain Resources for the NSLP and SBP web page . See pages 23–24 to access Exhibit A.
  
  
• USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) web page
  
  
• CDE Competitive Foods and Beverages web page
  
  
• CDE Modifications to Accommodate Disabilities web page
  
  
• CDE Final Rule: Fluid Milk Substitutions web page
  
  
• USDA Policy memo SP 40-2019, Smoothies Offered in the Child Nutrition Programs can be accessed on the USDA FNS Documents and Resources web page
  
  
• USDA Certification of Compliance Worksheets: 5-day Schedule web page
  
  
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Serving up Successful School Breakfast Program (PDF)

Crediting

• Crediting: 0.50 Hours

• Key Area: Nutrition (1000)
  • Training Topic: Menu Planning (1100)
    • Learning Objective: Analyze Menus (1150)

For more information on crediting, access the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) web document Professional Standards Learning Objectives (PDF)

Additional Information

For more information about nutrition education training and resources, visit the CDE Healthy Eating and Nutrition Education web page.

General Resources

• The CDE's NSLP and SBP Meal Patterns web page
  
  
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Weekly Nutrient Calculator (XLSX), an Excel spreadsheet that is designed to average your weekly dietary specifications offered over the course of a week and is based on weighted averages. The spreadsheet is similar to the USDA Simplified Nutrient Assessment Tool, but is upgraded to work off of your planned menu for your planned quantity. Therefore, you will have a weighted average for the week. This tool does not replace the USDA approved nutrient analysis software. It is only a tool that you can use if you do not have nutrient analysis, but want to see where you are at, especially with sodium levels.
  
  
• No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices web page provides the tools and resources needed to help elected officials and their staff, educators, and community leaders achieve success in fighting childhood hunger. Learn what works in the fight against childhood hunger and discover toolkits, case studies, hunger stats, issue briefs, reports, and more.
  
  
• Action for Healthy Kids Breakfast for Healthy Kids web page provides resources including marketing materials, webinars, and helpful facts about school breakfast programs to help sell breakfast to administrators.
  
  
• Food Research and Action Center School Breakfast Scorecard (PDF) a report that indicates that school breakfast participation continues to rise, but did not grow fast enough to meet the urgent need of eligible, low-income children to receive a healthy breakfast every day.
  
  
• USDA Energize Your Day with School Breakfast web page provides a collection of digital resources that program operators and other stakeholders may use to establish or expand the breakfast service within their school. Includes modules on getting started, implementing, and marketing school breakfast.
  
  
• USDA SBP Marketing web page will help you develop a promotion plan for your SBP. It includes fun ideas to make the program more appealing to students and parents, strategies for approaching your marketing plan, and adaptable resources such as flyers, letters, public service announcements, newsletter inserts, newspaper articles, and information sheets.

Contact Us

If you have technical difficulties, please contact the Education and Nutrition Policy Unit by phone at 916-445-9127 for assistance. For questions regarding the course content, contact Julie BoarerPitchford, Nutrition Education Consultant, by phone at 916-322-1563 or by email at jboarerpitchford@cde.ca.gov.