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Nutrition Services Home

Nutrition Services

A variety of food items including apples, a tangerine, a sandwich, and grapes

Nutrition Services is proud to partner with the educational team at the Carlsbad Unified School District serving your children. We serve an average of, through the National School Breakfast and National School Lunch programs.

Meals are also served during the summer school program. The National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs strive to ensure that all children have access to healthy meals at school to promote learning readiness and healthy eating behaviors. Children who aren't hungry feel better, learn better, and behave better. As a partner in education, our support staff works diligently to provide nutritious food in a safe and healthy environment.

About the Department

Nutrition Services is a self-sufficient enterprise, and all revenues earned from food sales are used to maintain the department staffing, equipment, food and supplies, and training. Our payment policies are in place to help us sustain our financial status in the district. We hope that you find this helpful. Nutrition Services is located at the district office at 6225 El Camino Real. Please feel free to contact us at (760) 331-5084, if you should have any questions or concerns regarding Nutrition Services.

  • Breakfast and lunch are provided at all sites according to site-specific bell schedules and meal service times. All Carlsbad USD school websites are linked at the top of this page, please check your school's schedule for more information. Sites with onsite construction may experience modified service due to food transport needs.

    To see daily food options, please visit our Menus page.

  • For school year 2024-25, one breakfast and one lunch daily are provided to all students at no cost. This is provided as a part of California's Universal Feeding Program, driven by AB 130.

    Students who receive meals or snacks will enter his or her unique student ID number into the keypad when retrieving his or her meal. The student ID number remains the same for as long as the child is in our school district. The number is given only to the individual student and must not be shared with others. Students at all grade levels should know their student ID (PIN #).

    2024-25 Free/Reduced Meal Applications and Information

  • CalFresh

    CalFresh, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, provides monthly food benefits to individuals and families with low income and provides economic benefits to communities.

    CalFresh benefits can help buy nutritious foods for a better diet. The amount of benefits a household receives is dependent on household size, countable income, and monthly expenses, such as housing and utilities. The program issues monthly benefits on an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Food may be purchased at any grocery store or farmers market that accepts EBT cards.

    Anyone can apply online at the CalFresh website – Cualquiera puede aplicar en línea en CalFresh

    SUN Bucks

    As of 2024, you can buy more food for your child with California’s Summer EBT program, SUN Bucks. SUN Bucks provides $40 per month for food for June, July and August ($120 total) and works just like CalFresh. Participating in SUN Bucks does not affect a family’s immigration status.

    Most children who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals through a school meal application or an Alternative Income Form, or get CalFresh, CalWORKs, and/or Medi-Cal, are automatically enrolled in SUN Bucks. Some children may need to sign up. Visit the SUN Bucks FAQ on the California Department of Social Services website for more information.

    For cardholder assistance, the SUN Bucks helpline is available at (877) 328-9677. The helpline provides automated support 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Live agents are available Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. To check your benefit balance and claim status, visit the California EBT cardholder website.

  • District Policies

    Forms

    Prepayment for Snacks

    Prepay for your child's purchases with SchoolCafé, using Visa or MasterCard, 24/7. You will be able to view account balances, purchase history, set up automatic payments, and be notified by email when the balance is low. Please have your child's student ID# to set up the account. A $1.75 convenience fee per transaction will be charged. Any questions, please call Nutrition Services at 760-331-5084.

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  • In an effort to keep our planet healthy, CUSD Nutrition Services has incorporated several vegetarian meal options for students in all age groups. Additionally, our secondary school cafeterias offer reusable bamboo cutlery for sale to minimize the use of single use plastics. Condiments are available upon request for meal recipients, and each school site has a water fountain or water bottle filling station.

    CUSD Nutrition Services, in partnership with the city of Carlsbad, has incorporated sorting and recycling at our elementary school sites and progressively through our middle and high school sites. Students are encouraged to sort their disposable items both from home and from our meal program into five possible containers: trays for upcycling, recyclables, landfill, food waste for composting, and fluids. Together, we can keep Carlsbad and our environment beautiful!

    To learn more about environmental efforts in our community and how you can help keep Carlsbad beautiful, please visit the Environmental Management page for the City of Carlsbad.

Non-Discrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

  1. Mail:
    U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
    1400 Independence Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
  2. Fax:
    (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
  3. Email: program.intake@usda.gov

 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.