Food Lists

The following Food Lists below provide food and beverage suggestions that are based on the best available nutrition evidence to support children’s healthy growth and development. When menu planning, consider offering, selling, or serving nutritious foods from the ‘Serve Frequently’ section most often and offering the ‘Serve Infrequently’ foods less often.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “infrequently” as placed or occurring at wide intervals in space or time. This may look different between schools. For example, if offering a 4-week menu cycle, this could look like offering the food once or twice during the cycle. If offering a 2-week menu cycle, this could look like offering the food once in the cycle.

When offering foods from the “Serve Infrequently” foods, consider offering smaller serving sizes.

Schools are encouraged to plan meals and snacks to best meets the needs of their student population and determine when and where changes are possible.