Welcome to Child Nutrition Services! 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

All La Grange ISD students will continue to receive breakfast and lunch for FREE under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Program under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for the 2024-2025 school year. Schools qualifying to operate CEP serve breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge and eliminate the collection of meal applications for free, reduced-price, and paid student meals.

LGISD Child Nutrition Program participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) which are federally assisted meal programs. The NSLP allows schools to receive money and foods from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). To receive these benefits, schools must serve meals meeting federal requirements regarding components, nutrients, and portion size. A complete meal which meets federal requirements is referred to as a “reimbursable meal”. Students must be provided access to all required meal components and quantities. This means the first and last student receiving a reimbursable meal must have the same food choices.

OFFER vs SERVE (OVS)

Offer versus Serve (OVS) is a provision in the NSLP (National School Lunch Program) and SBP (School Breakfast Program) that allows students to decline some of the food offered. The goals of OVS are to reduce food waste while permitting students to decline foods they do not intend to eat.

The goal of LGISD Child Nutrition is to educate the students on healthy food choices and portion size.

Under Offer versus Serve for breakfast, at least 4 food items must be offered. All students, at any grade level, must select:

• At least three food items

• For grains (or meat/meat alternate offered for this component) and milk, the student

  must select the daily minimum required amount; And

• One of the choices selected must be at least a ½ cup serving of fruit or vegetable.

• The meal pattern for breakfast consists of three food components:

  • Fruits

  • Grains

  • Milk

Under Offer versus Serve for lunch, all students, at any grade level, must select:

• At least 3 of 5 food components AND

• One of the choices selected must be at least a ½ cup serving of fruit or vegetable.

• The meal pattern for lunches consists of five food components:

  • Fruits

  • Vegetables

  • Grains

  • Meat/Meat Alternate

  • Milk

*Adult and Visitor meals offered on the serving line follow the same requirements but are not considered reimbursable meals. Adult and Visitor meals are priced to cover the cost of the meal