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Summer Food Service Program Guidance
The SFSP has a variety of program handbooks to serve as support resources for sponsor and site staff. The NDE encourages all sponsor staff to utilize the handbooks as training resources to ensure internal policies and procedures adhere to programmatic requirements and demonstrate alignment with best practices.
Visit the SFSP guides at the links below:
Bring the Farm to Summer Meals
Summer meals can incorporate Farm to Summer principles in a couple of simple ways:
- Conduct taste tests or cooking demonstrations with local foods.
- Purchase locally produced summer meals items from farmers markets and community gardens.
Summer Food, Summer Moves
Download the activity guide here:
Turnip the Beet with high quality summer meals!
Summer meals have a positive impact on children and communities by providing nutritious meals, sourcing local foods, and encouraging healthy behaviors. The USDA's Turnip the Beet award recognizes exceptional SFSP sponsors that offer high-quality, appetizing, appealing, and nutritious meals.
Who is eligible, and how do they apply?
All SFSP sponsors may all be eligible for a Turnip the Beet award. Submit a self-nomination or nominate a sponsor you see engaging in achieving the goals the Turnip the Beet aims to recognize. The nomination must include a completed nomination form, which can be found here, and a detailed one-month menu.
How are nominations evaluated?
Nominations must clearly showcase how meals are appealing, appetizing, and nutritious. The nomination form and menu are evaluated with a range of criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The criteria include serving local foods, serving a variety of fruits and vegetables, serving whole grains and low-fat and fat-free dairy products, serving low sodium foods, culturally-appropriate meals, and hosting taste tests.
What are the prizes?
Besides making a positive impact in your community, three award levels are available: bronze, silver, and gold. All winners receive a certificate and are featured in the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) summer newsletter. Gold and silver winners will be featured in USDA's blog, and gold winners will be identified as Turnip the Beet winners on FNS's Capacity Builder.
Funding Opportunity: School Breakfast Program Expansion Grant
The grant application is due July 13, 2022 and can be found here.
Summer Meals Resources
- Nutrition Guide for Sponsors: this tool helps sponsors plan and serve menus with a variety of nutrient-rich foods and beverages.
- Summer Meals Toolkit: this toolkit provides creative ideas for program operators and community partners to make summer meal planning easy, to raise awareness for summer meals, and strategies for overcoming barriers to serve nutritious foods that are appealing to children.
- Farm to Summer Factsheet: this factsheet identifies strategies for integrating local food into summer meals.
- FNS Documents and Resources: this resource offers free nutrition education materials that help reinforce and complement the nutrition messages taught by serving healthful foods.
- Kids Gardening Grant Opportunities: fund your next youth garden project with a grant from Kids Gardening!
