Using Offer Versus Serve at School Lunch
Offer versus Serve (OVS) is a type of meal service that can be used in the USDA's National School Lunch Program (NSLP)'s Seamless Summer Option (SSO), NSLP, and School Breakfast Program (SBP). Lunches offered through SSO and NSLP are intended to be a full meal for students, meeting approximately one-third of their nutritional needs for the day. School lunch is not meant to supplement meals brought from home or foods purchased outside of the NSLP program. A lunch provided through the SSO or NSLP helps students learn about MyPlate and all of the components of a balanced meal.
Offer versus Serve allows students to decline some of the food offered, which can help reduce food waste and give students more choices, while still providing well-balanced meals. While OVS meal service allows students to decline some of the foods offered at lunch, USDA requires that all students must be offered a full meal that includes all five meal components.
Schools that wish to offer individual meal components (or a limited number of components and not the full meal) to students may do so outside of the SSO reimbursement.
OVS in Action at Lunch*
Offer All Meal Components to All Students: If your school offers lunch using OVS, be sure to offer all meal components to all students. All components must be offered in at least the minimum required amounts for meals to be reimbursable.
Allow Students to Choose: Students may select all five meal components for a reimbursable meal. Under OVS, students must select at least 3 components and one choice must include at least a ½ cup of fruit and/or vegetable.
*OVS is required at lunch for senior high school students, and optional for all other grades. However, for School Year 2021-2022, this requirement may be waived in your State. For more information about this and other flexibilities, please contact your State agency.
|
Creating Clear Communications about School Meals and Student's Options
Encourage all students to eat school lunch and share the benefits of each meal component. Inform families about what foods are included in school meals, so they can help students with selections and reinforce nutrition education messages at home. When using OVS, make sure your school displays signs and menus that clearly show all of the available components of the reimbursable meal, what the students can select and what they must select. When everyone understands OVS, lunch lines may move more quickly and smoothly.
Does your marketing material:
Promote the nutritional benefits of the full school meal for all students?
Say that meals include five meal components, and that students can select all five components?
Inform that students must select at least three meal components, including at least a ½ cup of fruit and/or vegetable?
See below for examples of correct and incorrect signage.
|
 
For more information on OVS requirements, go to the Offer Versus Serve Guidance for the NSLP and SBP and check out Team Nutrition’s Offer Versus Serve Materials for posters and tip sheets.
|
