Did the New School Meal Standards Improve the Overall Quality of Children's Diets?

School meal programs represent the second largest form of food assistance in the United States. Schools receive federal reimbursements, totaling $17 billion in 2018, provided they meet certain nutritional standards. We document the impact of consuming school food, rather than home-prepared food, on diet quality as standards changed under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA). Pre-HHFKA, school food increased dietary quality for relatively disadvantaged children, with null-to-negative effects among all other students. Post-HHFKA, we find large improvements across the board, mainly driven by older, higher-income students although younger, lower-income students also experienced non-trivial gains.