In 1994, Congress passed the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act, requiring that Child Nutrition Programs comply with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and meet nutrient standards. In 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued new regulations to define how the Dietary Guidelines would be applied to school meals, called the School Meals Initiative (SMI). Since 1996, compliance with the Dietary Guidelines is to be achieved through a choice of meal planning options for schools to reach the nutrient standards for Healthy School Meals. School food authorities can operate with one of four specific menu planning options: NuMenus, Assisted NuMenus, Food Based Menus, or Traditional Menus. This guide was developed to help school food services comply with the new regulations and reach children's nutritional needs. Following introductory chapters that outline the purpose of Healthy School Meals and suggest tips for getting started, the guide's chapters are: (1) "Menu Planning"; (2) "Nutrition Goals"; (3) "Standardized Recipes"; (4) "Menu Production Records"; (5) "Condiments"; (6) "Processed Food Product Nutrient Data"; (7) "The SMI Review"; (8) "Travel Companions"; (9) "Definitions"; and (10) "Resources." Detailed information intended to help answer technical questions is appended to the guide, including USDA-approved menu planning options, a standardized recipe form, a menu production record, a manufacturer nutrition facts label, and the common percentage of moisture and fat change during food preparation. (LPP)