The Weekly Update · Oct. 14, 2026

National School Lunch Week & Emergency School Meal Funding

Here’s what you need to know this week:

#NSLW26

Happy National School Lunch Week! You’re doing amazing work out there and we hope it’s a fun week of celebrating all the school lunch magic you make happen each day! 🪄✨

Emergency Funding for School Meals

This NSLP week, we're uplifting the call from school nutrition advocates across the country calling on Congress to release emergency funding for school meal programs! A recent USDA report found that meal revenues covered an average of only 81% of program expenses nationwide. And in SNA's national survey, 70% of school nutrition program directors said federal reimbursement rates were not enough to cover the cost of producing a school lunch.

School meal programs across the country are under growing financial pressure as the costs of food, labor, equipment, transportation, and other essentials continue to rise. Take 1 minute to fill out this form or SNA’s Campaign to send a letter to your reps!

Adequate Time to Eat Survey

Ever get frustrated that we prep all this beautiful food but our kiddos don’t have enough time to eat? Fill out this survey which may inform future policy priorities around adequate time to eat for our California kids! 🥕

⭐️ Resources

📆 Upcoming Events

Oct. 15: CA Farm to School Summit - CDFA (in person!)
✨ Oct. 15: Join our first call for the New & Aspiring Directors Academy (NADA) by LunchAssist!
🎉Oct. 12-16: National School Lunch Week
🎉Oct. 18-24: Farm to CACFP Week
Oct. 19: Launching Farm to CACFP with Local Vegetables - NCA

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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