CACFP Meal Pattern Resources

Since 1968, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) has contributed to the overall good health and wellness of both young children and adults. In fact, over 4 million children and nearly 120,000 adults receive nutritious meals and snacks each day while attending facilities operating this program.

To continue meeting the needs of CACFP participants, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) called for the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services (USDA FNS) to review and revise the CACFP meal pattern requirements to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and to address the current health status of children and adults. Following this call to action, USDA published the updated meal pattern requirements on April 25, 2016.

Through USDA FNS guidance and collaboration, ICN developed the CACFP Meal Pattern Requirements training materials. This webpage features training materials and additional resources for implementing the updated meal pattern requirements.