The SNA of South Carolina is an organization of school nutrition professionals who provide nourishing meals everyday to the schoolchildren in South Carolina. In addition to lunch, many South Carolina schools offer breakfast, after school snack programs, milk programs, and more. USDA is the governing agency that sets the guidelines for all school nutrition programs. In South Carolina, the Department of Education is the agency who works directly with schools in implementing the USDA school nutrition programs.
USDA policy sets the nutrition standards by which school meals must meet in order for schools to receive Federal Reimbursement for meals served. The term "reimbursable meal" is often used to identify a meal that meets all the guidelines set forth by the USDA.
In addition to nutrition standards, school nutrition departments must meet other requirements including, but not limited to: Food safety, financial assistance for meals, commodity food procurement, purchasing rules, and more.