Health-e Pro Blog
Updates and Resources for School Nutrition ProgramsMenu planning, USDA compliance, operations, nutrition, technology, and more.
Scratch vs. Speed Scratch Cooking in School Nutrition Programs
School nutrition programs are moving away from highly processed foods and toward more scratch and speed scratch cooking. Students and families are asking for tasty, less processed meals, and school nutrition programs are finding ways to make that happen. Scratch...
AI in School Nutrition Webinar Recap: What It Can Do, What It Can’t, and What’s Next
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere right now, and school nutrition teams are all asking the same questions: Can it build a compliant menu? Can it write standardized recipes that credit correctly? Can it really save time, or does it introduce new risks? In...
Marketing Cycle Menus – How to Build Excitement and Boost Participation in Your School Nutrition Program
You’ve built your cycle menu, evolved it, and made it work for your program. Now comes the next step: marketing it. A cycle menu is more than just a schedule of meals. It’s one of the strongest communication tools in your school nutrition program. Each cycle is a...
Protein is the New Pancake: A School Breakfast Movement
When picturing a traditional school breakfast, pancakes or sugary cereal may come to mind. Grain-based items have always been popular in school cafeterias, and many of them are still being served today. At the same time, schools are expanding their menus to include...
Evolving Cycle Menus – How to Optimize and Adapt Your Menu for Long-Term Success
You finally have your school nutrition cycle menus planned. You chose recipes, balanced components, and made sure everything fits your budget and USDA regulations. But then things change. Your vendor discontinues a product you rely on, prices go up, and participation...
Photo Fitness Webinar Recap: Food Photography for School Nutrition Programs
Just like starting a new workout routine, improving your school food photography skills starts with a few simple moves. You don’t need fancy equipment or a big budget. With the right techniques and a little practice, you can take photos that make your meals shine....
#NSBW26 Inspiration: The Quest for School Breakfast
It’s almost time to set out on our National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) journey: the Quest for School Breakfast! From March 2–6, 2026, Health-e Pro is celebrating school breakfast and how it helps students start the morning strong and stay focused in the classroom....
The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act: What Changed for School Nutrition Programs
Congress passed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act (S.222), and it was signed into law on January 14, 2026. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has since released implementation guidance explaining what the new milk regulations mean for school nutrition...
New Dietary Guidelines for Americans and What That Means for School Nutrition Programs
You may have seen or heard about the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans and wondered what they mean for school nutrition programs. For school nutrition teams, the questions are usually the same: What are the Dietary Guidelines? Who decides them? And will anything...
K-12 School Nutrition Recipes in Health-e Pro: 5,000+ USDA-Compliant, Kid-Approved Recipes
If you work in school nutrition, you know how hard it is to find tried-and-true K-12 recipes that actually work. When you find one, it feels like a win. Recipes have to do so much more than just taste good. They need to be standardized, student-approved, trusted and...