My Facebook feed has been full of friends’ and family’s back-to-school photos of kids dressed up, with new backpacks, waiting for the bus. While each school year brings new teachers and new lessons, one more difference these kids will see is the types of foods and beverages that are available for individual purchase. Last school year, new nutrition standards for school lunches and breakfasts went into effect. This year, the interim final rule for competitive foods starts setting nutritional standards for foods and beverages sold individually in school, not as part of a meal. This will affect foods and beverages sold a la carte on the meal line, in school stores and in vending machines. You can read more about the dairy impacts of the interim final rule here. To help schools identify products that will meet these new requirements, USDA has put together a number of resources. These may also be helpful to dairy processors, as you can see what dairy products are allowed and the information that is being shared with schools. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has developed a calculator to identify which products meet the food-group and nutrient-content requirements of the interim final rule. With the relatively short period of time between the publication of the interim final rule and the bidding process for school items, there is still some confusion regarding what foods meet the standards. Many dairy products are allowed as competitive options for students of all ages, but if you aren’t sure which of your products would qualify to be sold in schools, check out some of the resources I mentioned.