Under the updated child and adult meal patterns, fruit juice or vegetable juice may only be used to meet the vegetable or fruit requirement at one meal or snack per day.

The standards support the service of a greater variety of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, lean meats/meat alternative, and low-fat and fat-free dairy while minimizing added sugar and saturated fat.

The CACFP snack meal pattern for ages 3-5 requires any two of the five components: ½ cup of unflavored low-fat (1%) or unflavored fat-free milk; ½ ounce of meat/meat alternates; ½ cup of vegetables; ½ cup of fruits; and ½ ounce equivalent (oz eq) of grains.

National School Lunch Program Meal Pattern ​The NSLP has five food components: 1) grains, 2) meat/meat alternate, 3) fruits, 4) vegetables, and 5) milk.

The CACFP guides you on how to provide healthy meals using five food components which make up the meal service requirements: grains, fruits, vegetables, meats/meat alternates and milk. Learn when these are required and how they fit into the CACFP meal pattern.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture administers the program nationwide, providing funding to states. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) administers the program in California.

The Child Nutrition Program of Southern California (CNPSC) is a non-profit agency and was incorporated in March 1981. We have been a sponsor of the USDA Child & Adult Care Food Program (Child Care Component) since 1981. 70% of our Team Members have previously operated Family Child Care businesses.