October 2025 Announcements

Free & Reduced-Price Verification (begin October 1st)

Verification is the process by which schools confirm the eligibility of a sample of approved free and reduced-price meal applications. The verification process starts on October 1st and deadline to collect household documentation and complete verification is November 15th. Schools will report the verification results and October eligibility data on the School Food Authority (SFA) Verification Collection Report in MAPS by November 30th. Please carefully read through the instructions to ensure reporting accuracy. Additional instructions can be found in the USDA’s Eligibility Manual.

Verification resources are available on the OPI SNP website:

• Verification Application Tracker
• Verification Error-Prone Sponsors 2025-26
• Verification Instructions
• Verification Instructions - CEP Districtwide
• Verification Instructions - Residential Only RCCI
• Verification: We Must Check Your Application- Household Notification of Verification Letter
• Verification: We Have Checked Your Application- Household Letter of Verification Results
• Verification Deadline Extension Request Form

School Resource Updates from Team Nutrition

Team Nutrition’s resources support U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’ guiding principle to “Strengthen strategies to encourage healthy choices, healthy outcomes, and healthy families.”  We are pleased to share new and updated resources to support school menu planning and a healthy school environment. 

Watch New Trainings for Successful School Menu Planning

Team Nutrition added seven short trainings to The Road to Successful Menu Planning for School Meals [fns.usda.gov] training series. These on-demand webinars help schools plan and implement menus that meet school nutrition standards and meal pattern requirements:

Menu Planning

• Menu Planning for the National School Lunch Program Afterschool Snack Service [youtube.com]
• Nuts and Seeds Flexibilities in School Meals [youtube.com]
• School Breakfast Menu Flexibilities: Grains and Meats/Meat Alternates and Substituting Vegetables for Fruit [youtube.com]
• School Lunch Menu Flexibilities: Beans, Peas, and Lentils [youtube.com]

Reducing Added Sugars

• Reducing Added Sugars at Breakfast: Menu Planning Tips [youtube.com]
• Reducing Added Sugars in Recipes [youtube.com]
• Using Nutrient Analysis Software for Added Sugars [youtube.com]

Each training can count toward USDA Professional Standards for School Nutrition Programs – Key Area 1000: Nutrition and Training Topic 1100: Menu Planning. They are available now in the Institute of Child Nutrition’s iLearn portal [theicn.docebosaas.com] and USDA’s Professional Standards Trainings and Tracker Tool [pstrainingtracker.fns.usda.gov].

Download New and Revised Resources for School Breakfast

• Today’s Breakfast Poster [fns.usda.gov] (New): School nutrition professionals can use this poster to display daily breakfast menu options and remind students to eat a variety of foods. 
• MyPlate Guide to School Breakfast for Families [fns.usda.gov] (Revised): This infographic highlights healthy foods that are part of a balanced school breakfast and shows parents and caregivers how they can help their child eat a healthy school breakfast.

Look for New Food Yields in the Food Buying Guide

New food yields were added to the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) Interactive Web-based Tool [fns.usda.gov] and the FBG Mobile App [fns.usda.gov]! The following new foods are now available: Crushed pineapple, pineapple chunks, pineapple tidbits, dried mango, açai puree, dragon fruit (pitaya), and chopped romaine lettuce.

Stay tuned for additional yield data releases soon. 

Join Free Training Webinars from the Institute of Child Nutrition

The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) [theicn.org] offers free trainings on a broad range of topics for child nutrition professionals working in school nutrition and child care settings.

Don’t miss these upcoming trainings:

• September 25, 2025: School Nutrition Strategies, Trainings, Action Plans, and Resources (STAR) Webinar – Farm to School: Tips for Increasing Locally Grown or Raised Food Options
• October 2, 2025: Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN) Webinar – Streamlining Food Production: How to Create Operational Efficiencies to Allow for More Scratch and Speed Scratch Food Production
• October 30, 2025: STAR Webinar – Best Practices for Crafting Cycle Menus

To receive webinar and registration information for upcoming webinars, please subscribe [theicn.org] to the ICN newsletter. A link to register will be sent to subscribers one week before the webinar date.

Can't make it to a live webinar? View past webinars and learn anytime, anywhere on ICN's online learning management system, iLearn [theicn.docebosaas.com]. 

Order Team Nutrition Materials in Print

State agencies, program operators, and sponsoring organizations that participate in the USDA’s Child Nutrition Programs can request free print copies of our materials, such as the following, while supplies last:

For School Year 2025-2026

• Team Nutrition Resources for Schools Catalog [pueblo.gpo.gov]
• Team Nutrition Popular Events Idea Booklet [pueblo.gpo.gov]

Visit our online order form [pueblo.gpo.gov] for more resources.

State agencies are encouraged to share this announcement with their school food authorities and any others interested in this topic. 

Questions about this announcement may be sent to TeamNutrition@USDA.gov.  

USDA Foods Shipment 3

The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.