The Weekly Update · Jul. 16, 2026

LunchAssist Turns 10, ANC ’26 Recap & SBP/SMP Grant Results

Here’s what you need to know this week:

Happy Birthday LunchAssist! 🥳

10 years ago today, LunchAssist was born. We started out when our Founder & CEO, Jen McNeil, stepped away from her Director role at Encinitas USD and started supporting a handful of schools with Administrative Reviews while teaching in-person culinary trainings for CDE. Today, our team of 20 equally passionate school nutrition neRDs work with over 400 school districts! We’re still true to our roots, focusing on audits, training, farm to school, scratch cooking, and all things compliance. And we’re still just as awestruck at the dedication of our clients who collectively feed over 3 million kids each day!

We are grateful to have spent the last decade playing a small supporting role in the hard work of so many school nutrition professionals. Thank you all for supporting our team for so many years - and for all that you do to feed the kids every day. Cheers to another 10 years together! ♥️

ANC '26 Recap

More to celebrate: a successful ANC! On Sunday morning, hundreds of school nutrition professionals packed a Charlotte conference room for our ANC session, “What Auditors Really Look For: AR Findings Demystified,” led by LunchAssist Consultant Caroline Olson, RDN, LN & Melissa Manning, RDN of My School RD.

Turns out, ARs are a hot topic because this room was completely full – nary an empty seat! 🤩 As former state agency auditors, these two pros dished out their top tips for acing an SNP Administrative Review. Best of all, Caroline said, “we felt like we really helped folks feel more ready and less anxious about their review” – and that’s what truly matters!

We can’t wait to gather with the school nutrition community again in November at the California SNA conference! ✨

26-27 SBP & SMP Grant Results!

Funding results for California’s 2026-27 School Breakfast Program (SBP) and Summer Meal Programs (SMP) Start-up and Expansion Grant have been posted! This grant program provides schools with funding to start-up or expand their SBP and SMP. Visit the grant webpage for more info.

Cash in Lieu

The USDA has released the cash in lieu value of USDA Foods (commodities) for Jul. 1, 2026 - Jun. 30, 2027 in the Federal Register. For SY 26-27, the value is 32.00 cents per meal. This is an increase of one and a half cents from SY 25-26!

⭐️ Resources

📆 Upcoming Events

Jul. 23: The Growing Landscape of Statewide Local Food Solicitations - NFSN
Jul. 29: CACFP Stay Connected Quarterly Webinar - CDSS
Jul. 30: CA Farm to School Network Call - CDFA
✨ Aug. 6: The Lunch Break by LunchAssist ~ we'll discuss all things Back-to-School!
✨ Aug. 20: Procurement Review Prep Call by LunchAssist!

✨ Sep. 3: SY 26-27 SNP AR Kick-Off Call on The Lunch Break!

LunchAssist is an allowable use of the Cafeteria Fund, KIT Funds, and R&R Grant. 🥳 Schedule a demo to learn more.

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