Healthy School Meals for All
The meals, drinks, and snacks that schools provide to students should be as healthy as possible.
School meals help prevent hunger and provide nutrients that kids need to learn and thrive. These meals are essential to tens of millions of children and families.
Healthy school meals have a range of benefits, especially when offered for free to all students. Strong nutrition standards for meals are associated with students having healthier diets. Some research also shows that providing healthy school meals for all students supports attendance and even academic performance.
The last major update to school nutrition standards happened in 2012, and the changes made then—including more fruits, vegetables and whole grains along with limits on saturated fats and sodium—increased the nutritional quality of meals by more than 40 percent, with student participation highest in schools that served the healthiest meals.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently proposing additional updates to those standards. By joining together, we can ensure that school meals support a healthy future for all children.
School meal nutrition update 2.0: How to get it right
A study from Healthy Eating Research, funded by RWJF, finds that fully aligning school meal nutrition standards with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) would make school meals more nutritious, increase student participation in school meal programs and help children do well in the classroom. In an op-ed for The Hill, RWJF Senior Program Officer Jamie Bussel says that "Healthy school meals make an enormous difference for millions of children."
Healthy School Meals for All
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools had to make major shifts to how they fed students. Some policy changes were put into place to make that easier. This research brief provides more context about those policy changes, and research on the impacts of healthy school meals.
Featured Content
Why We Need Healthy School Meals for All
Healthy School Meals for All offers students the stability they need as they continue adapting to pandemic-driven change amidst ongoing challenges. Now is not the time to let this policy expire.
The Majority of Adults Support Permanent, Free School Meals for All Students
Urban Institute research funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that most adults, regardless of whether they live with children enrolled in school, support free school meals.
How School Meals Help Families Impacted by the Pandemic
School meals are a lifeline to tens of millions of families across the country. Learn about new research showing why healthy meals are so important—and opportunities to help schools ensure more families have access to the healthy foods they need.
The Six-Ingredient Recipe for Universal School Meals: Lessons from California
During the summer of 2021, California became the first state in the country to pass a state budget that includes universal (free) school meals for all 6 million of its public school students. Experts share the six key ingredients that helped them achieve this win.
Related News and Insights
Read expert perspectives and the latest research from RWJF to explore the opportunities and complexities of this topic.
Comments from Richard Besser, MD, on Proposed Changes to USDA's School Nutrition Standards
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Why We Need Healthy School Meals for All
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School Meals Library
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