The Healthy Meals for Healthy American Act of 1994 requires that a variety of meal-planning approaches be available for schools to plan menus. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulation "School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children," published in 1995, implements the provisions of the 1994 legislation and incorporates other proposals. The changes updated the nutrition standards for school meals, providing a variety of menu-planning alternatives and streamlining administration. This guidebook provides information to help school food-service professionals decide which menu-planning system best meets their needs. The book describes options for meeting the dietary guidelines for food-based menu planning, NuMenus, and Assisted NuMenus; presents information on compliance with nutritional standards; and compares the previous requirements with the new provisions. "Nutrition Power," a comprehensive training initiative to improve the learning readiness and lifelong nutritional health of Wisconsin children, is also described. Information on computer-hardware requirements and USDA-approved software for nutrient analysis is provided. (LMI)