To limit reliance on ultra-processed foods in school meals, a majority of school nutrition directors report needing additional resources that include funding, menu development, culinary training, staffing, and equipment and infrastructure, according to survey data released on January 6, 2026 by the School Nutrition Association (SNA). The survey was conducted in October 2025 and had 1,240 school district respondents.
In September 2025, the Trump administration’s “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy report stressed a need to reduce ultra-processed foods in school meals as a way to address childhood chronic disease. To do that, schools will need to cook more scratch-prepared meals, SNA said in its survey report. The association also found that 71% of school nutrition directors said they already offer scratch-prepared entrees on a daily or weekly basis. 95% of directors also reported that during the 2025-26 school year they are seriously or moderately concerned about the financial sustainability of their school nutrition programs three years from now.
In addition, a position paper by SNA said that cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid — as passed by Congress in the July 2025 “One Big, Beautiful” budget law — will reduce the number of children who are automatically certified for free and reduced-price meals. Consequently, fewer schools will be eligible for a federal program known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which helps high-poverty schools and districts serve free meals to all students.
There is currently no uniform definition of ultra-processed foods.
The pervasive feeling is that schools are being told to provide meals at greater cost with fewer resources and a lack of uniform guidance.
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