Introduction: The correct execution of the National School Feeding Program can constitute an opportunity for articulation between family farming and the agricultural, economic and social development of the region, in this sense the objective of this study is to analyze the execution of the PNAE regarding the purchase of food from family farming. Method: Cross-sectional study developed from secondary data in the public domain. Data were collected from 75 Brazilian municipalities spread across the five regions of the country regarding the management of the PNAE in 2019. To evaluate the purchase, the reference of a minimum of 30% of the resources transferred by the FNDE was used, as recommended in Law No. 11,947/2009. Results: 21% of the analyzed municipalities failed to reach the minimum of 30%, the South was more prominent in the scope of this legal device and the northeast region leads the inadequacies, the large municipalities were the ones that most distanced themselves from the analyzed normative apparatus, the unfeasibility of regular and constant supply of foodstuffs was the justification that stood out for the non-compliance of 30% and most municipalities made a public call. Final considerations: Although there is a list of challenges and obstacles for the management of the PNAE not to materialize the recommendations of the legislation, there is a scenario of positive and successful results both for family farming and for local rural development and for achieving the objectives from the program.