K-12 Dive reports that as the U.S. Department of Agriculture gears up to propose regulations that align school meals with the latest federal nutrition standards, some school nutrition leaders are urging the agency to not increase meat or meat alternate requirements for schools.
In a March 9, 2026 letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, over 900 school districts, school nutrition professionals and organizations wrote that such a measure would add financial strain on school nutrition programs and risk missing out on other dietary components that are more likely to be underconsumed.
The letter was sent a day before the School Nutrition Association announced its board of directors met with Trump administration officials, including Make America Healthy Again Advisor Calley Means, to discuss feedback and facts about school nutrition programs. SNA said the board also wanted to “correct misconceptions targeting school meal quality.”
For more from K-12 Dive, click here.