Smart Swaps Looks To Keep Dairy On School Menus

The National Dairy Council announced the Smart Swaps Initiative to help with the challenges that school nutrition professionals face as they work to meet evolving USDA school meal standards.  Katie Bambacht, vice president of school nutrition for the National Dairy Council, said meeting those standards requires a balancing act.

“While still trying to serve meals that are kid-friendly, that are appealing, and also get students excited about school meal programs," Bambacht noted.  "One, we have dairy-centric recipes.  Two, we've done sample breakfast menus, and lastly, culinary and educational training materials.  It was back in 2024 when USDA finalized new meal pattern requirements for both the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program.  First, there is more menu flexibility at breakfast.  The rule removes the minimum daily grain requirements, which gives schools more freedom to feature nutrient-rich dairy foods like cheese and yogurt.  And then, starting this school year, there will also be new product-specific sugar limits.”

Could Dairy Products Be Removed From School Menus?

USDA data showed many school nutrition breakfast programs don’t meet the new sugar limit requirements, so schools need help adapting.

“With these tighter limits on added sugar and on sodium, there was a concern that popular dairy foods like flavored milk, yogurt and cheese, could be reduced or even removed from school breakfast menus," Bambacht said.  "So, rather than seeing this as a setback, the dairy checkoff saw it as an opportunity. It's a chance to support schools by developing practical, smart recipe updates, and also sample breakfast menus that meet these new standards while keeping dairy foods on the menu and on student trays.”

Bambacht added they began the initiative by focusing on recipes.

“Our school team reviewed the existing school breakfast offerings and identified opportunities to reduce added sugars and sodium, while still maintaining that great taste, nutrition, and also practicality for school kitchens," she said.  "And from that work, we updated 15 existing breakfast recipes that we know are student favorites.  We just updated them slightly to meet the new standards and also fit into the new school menus.  And two, we created ten brand-new breakfast recipes that were inspired by some of the current food trends and were also designed to fill some of those menu gaps that we identified by our school team.  So, altogether, Smart Swaps now offers 25 new or updated standardized dairy recipes.”

Feedback From Students Very Important

The NDC ran student taste tests, to see how the effort resonated with students.

“Some fun examples include a few cool or portable options, like apple pie overnight oats," Bambacht pointed out.  "There's a strawberry pancake yogurt parfait and a frozen yogurt bark. Kids are wonderfully honest. There's no filter. A few of our favorite comments from students included, quote, ‘Put this on our school meals’ with an exclamation point, and then, ‘It tasted really good. Ten out of ten!’ It was a great reminder that taste testing is essential. What sounds good on paper doesn't always resonate or land with students.”

With the help of state and regional checkoff teams, those taste tests included approximately 2,500 students.

Click Here to learn more about the Smart Swaps Initiative.

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