Schools, health care institutions prepared to handle evolving national food guidelines
As federal nutrition guidelines shift for the first time in years, local school districts are beginning to assess what the changes will mean for students’ daily meals.
At Moniteau School District, food services director Carrie Plecher said one of the most immediate changes could be the return of whole and 2% milk in school cafeterias, options that have been restricted for more than a decade under previous federal standards.
“We’ll probably be offering the whole and the 2%,” Plecher said. “Right now, we only offer 1% and skim. I’m considering doing a survey with the students to see what they would prefer.”
Moniteau participates in the National School Lunch Program, which sets strict requirements for what schools must offer each day.
Plecher said Moniteau serves roughly 850 lunches per day across its two schools, along with 600 to 650 breakfasts daily, making compliance with federal standards a daily challenge.
Under program rules, each lunch must include an entree — typically a protein paired with a grain — along with multiple fruit and vegetable options and milk. Students are required to take at least three of those each day.
“Sometimes, the kids just don’t want to take their fruits or vegetables,” Plecher said. “We have to nudge them, because if they don’t, the meal isn’t reimbursable and it becomes more expensive for them.”
Menu planning, Plecher said, is a highly technical process guided by federal nutrition limits. Using specialized software, each meal is broken down by calories, sodium, fat and sugar before it can be approved.
“If it follows the USDA guidelines, then I’m allowed to use that menu,” she said. “If it doesn’t, I have to go back and tweak it.”
Budget constraints further complicate the process.
Plecher said food costs continue to rise, forcing districts to balance nutrition standards with affordability.
Moniteau purchases food through a regional cooperative buying group, which helps reduce costs through volume discounts, but she said the pressure remains constant.
“It’s a tightrope walk,” Plecher said.
Plecher emphasized that while schools are responsible for offering nutritious meals, individual nutrition decisions — such as whether a child should choose whole milk — ultimately rest with families.
“There are health benefits to whole milk, but there are also risks because there’s more fat,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you which student should or shouldn’t have it. That’s a parent decision.”
Communication with parents, she said, will become more important once the federal government provides clearer direction on how the updated nutrition guidance applies to school meals.
“Once we get the final rulings and mandates, we’ll communicate that through emails, our website and parent messaging systems,” Plecher said.
Moniteau isn’t alone in its expected changes to whole and 2% milk.
On Friday, Jan. 16, students at Butler Area School District’s McQuistion Elementary School could be seen sipping on 1% milk.
Butler, along with other districts across Butler County, could soon be looking at getting different milk into the lunch room.
The broader changes stem from the newly released 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which introduce a redesigned food pyramid intended to emphasize long-term eating patterns rather than individual meals.
While the updated visual has drawn attention, Taralee Loveridge, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, said the science behind the recommendations remains largely unchanged.
“The biggest change is how the guidance is presented, not necessarily the numerical recommendations themselves,” Loveridge said. “Limits on saturated fat, added sugars and sodium are largely the same as past guidelines.”
Loveridge said the new pyramid places greater emphasis on protein sources, dairy, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats, while visually de-emphasizing ultra-processed foods.
Unlike the MyPlate model, which focused on what a balanced meal looks like at one sitting, the pyramid is meant to reflect overall dietary patterns.
She cautioned against interpreting the emphasis on protein as encouragement for extreme dietary changes.
“This looks less like adding protein powders and more like choosing foods such as eggs, beans, yogurt, poultry, fish or tofu at meals,” Loveridge said.
Loveridge also noted that cost and access remain significant barriers, both for families and institutions.
“Education alone can’t overcome affordability challenges,” she said, adding that budget-friendly options such as beans, eggs, frozen vegetables and low-sodium canned foods can still fit within the guidelines.
For schools like Moniteau, Plecher said the goal remains consistent despite evolving federal guidance.
“We’re trying our best to give students healthy, tasty meals that they’ll actually eat,” she said. “It’s not easy to follow all the guidelines, but we’re doing everything we can to keep kids healthy and happy.”
