The Weekly Update · Jul. 8, 2026

CA State Budget, Universal Meals Nationwide & SNAP Cuts

Here’s what you need to know this week:

CA State Budget Signed into Law

Last week, CA Gov. Newsom signed the 26-27 state budget into law. Here’s a brief overview of the state’s investment in school nutrition programs:

🎉 Universal Meals is fully funded at $1.87 B!
$500 M for 2026 KIT Funds (LunchAssist remains an allowable cost!)
$24.6 M for Farm to School, plus for the first time ever we have ongoing funding for the Farm to School grant program 💚
$14.3 M for the Healthy School Food Pathway Program

Big kudos to the advocacy partners who’ve worked tirelessly on this legislation, especially our pals at CSNA and the School Meals for All Coalition! 🙏✨ For more budget news, check out the Center for Ecoliteracy’s short breakdown video, featuring our favorite policy nerd, Abby Halperin.

Support for Universal Meals Nationwide!

What’s better than California Universal Meals? Free meals for all students across the country! Fill out this form to voice your support for the federal Universal School Meals Program Act, which has been reintroduced in Congress.

And there are several other bills recently introduced at the federal level aiming to provide consistent federal funding for local food purchasing, expansion of the Farm to School program, funding for kitchen equipment upgrades, and more! Visit SNA’s Action Center to sign on in support!

In the Face of SNAP Cuts

A year ago, historic SNAP cuts were signed into law via H.R. 1, enacting $200 B in cuts over the next decade. Since then, over 4 million people, including more than 800,000 children, have lost their benefits (and those numbers are expected to rise). FRAC reminds us that cuts to SNAP threaten the Child Nutrition Programs, SNAP cost-shifts will burden state budgets, and come November 1st, SNAP benefits for over 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, are set to expire. Sign on to No Kid Hungry’s letter urging Senators to restore SNAP!

We also want to give a special shout out to all the Child Nutrition Directors who spent days and weeks compiling their data to re-certify (or certify for the first time) for CEP. We had over ~70 clients who decided to reapply this year - no easy feat! Kudos to the consultants on our team who were also busy helping districts get their data sorted prior to the June 30 deadline. ❤️

⭐️ 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. 20: Procurement Review Prep Call by LunchAssist ~ PRO Members only! To join PRO please email mike@lunchassist.org.
✨ Aug. 6: The Lunch Break by LunchAssist ~ we'll discuss all things Back-to-School!

✨ 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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