Offer versus serve refers to the option children in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
may be given to refuse up to two items offered as part of a federally subsidized school lunch or breakfast without the meal service operation losing the federal reimbursement for the meal. It was enacted to reduce plate waste, which, some contended, was exacerbated by forcing children to take items they did not want as part of a meal in order for the meal to qualify for a federal subsidy.
See also
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National School Lunch Act
The National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free School meal, school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidi ...
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School meal
A school meal (whether it is a breakfast, lunch, or evening meal) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world offer various kinds of schoo ...
References
*{{CRS, article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition, url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110810044532/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf, author= Jasper Womach
United States Department of Agriculture