For those following the battle over healthier school food, here’s the latest since my last update at the end of June (“This Isn’t Applebees: A School Food Update“):
Will the SNA Change Course?
The School Nutrition Association (SNA), the leading force behind efforts to roll back school nutrition standards in Congress, held its annual meeting earlier this month and installed a new president, Jean Ronnei. Ronnei is the former school nutrition director for St. Paul, Minnesota, a district which has been lauded for its progressive meal program. So the big question is: does Ronnei’s election portend a possible softening of the organization’s anti-nutrition stance or will it be business as usual in the coming year? Dana Woldow combs through Ronnei’s background to answer that question here.
Excuses, Excuses
Meanwhile, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) just concluded a five-part series looking at the various justifications offered by the SNA to gut school nutrition standards, including excuses like “There’s a shortage of whole grain Rice Krispies Treats” and “Healthier standards have driven up school food costs.” The last post in the UCS series appears here, and the remaining four are linked at the bottom of the post. (Update: here’s a handy link to all the posts.)
Nutrition Waivers Added to Appropriations Bills
As I mentioned earlier this week, the Senate appropriations committee has approved an amendment which would weaken school food sodium and grain requirements, just as the House did last month. But it’s important to remember that these actions are part of the appropriations process, not the Child Nutrition Reauthorization. So these amendments, if adopted, would remain effective only through fiscal year 2016. The more serious concern for school food advocates is ….
The Child Nutrition Reauthorization
…. which is the once-every-five-year Congressional reauthorization of child nutrition programs. What’s the latest on the CNR? Politico’s Morning Agriculture report tells us that on the Senate side, leaders “are continuing to work toward a bipartisan deal on child nutrition reauthorization, and staff are currently drafting bill text, according to aides. But the timeline remains unclear as the current law is set to expire Sept. 30. . . . On the House side, Education and the Workforce aides have not confirmed whether a bill is being drafted . . . .”
How You Can Support Strong School Nutrition Standards
In the midst of all of this Congressional wrangling, where are the voices of parents and kids? To show your support for preserving science-based school nutrition standards, please sign these petitions from Food Policy Action and the American Heart Association.
You can also share on social media this new infographic from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation . . .
Infographic: Students and Parents Support Healthier School Meals by RWJF on RWJF.org
. . . as well as this new Funny or Die video from the American Heart Association featuring Nick Offerman. “Acres of pizza, kissed by the sun. . . . What could be healthier?” Enjoy. 🙂
And of course I’ll continue to keep you updated on the latest school food news here on The Lunch Tray.
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Bettina Elias Siegel
Diane Pratt-Heavner, SNA says
Bettina – SNA President Jean Ronnei responded to “Will SNA Chart a New Course?” with the following letter to the editor:
In response to Dana Woldow’s “Will SNA Chart a New Course,” I am grateful for Ms. Woldow’s confidence in my ability to effectively lead the School Nutrition Association (SNA) as President. I am honored to serve SNA’s 55,000 members, who work hard to prepare healthy meals that meet regulations, appeal to diverse student communities, are affordable for families and fit within increasingly tight school meal program budgets.
Saint Paul Public Schools’ (SPPS) Nutrition Services team, like so many others nationwide, has dedicated their careers to improving school menus and encouraging students to make healthier choices. Thanks to our central kitchen, equipped with the help of federal funds no longer available to schools, we slowly and carefully increased the amount of whole grains into our school-baked products that were then not available in the market place.
SPPS needed to apply for a temporary whole grain waiver that would allow the district to create a menu item that would appeal to our diverse student body. As Ms. Woldow cited, our district is renowned for efforts to offer dishes that our diverse student body recognizes from home. At the urging of our Karen community, we sought the waiver to add culturally relevant dishes to our menus, such as a scratch-prepared breakfast entree made with white Jasmine rice and scrambled eggs. Schools nationwide should be able to make exceptions like these when planning menus, which is why SNA is seeking reasonable flexibility.
SPPS has always encouraged students to take “All You Care to Eat” from our colorful fruit and vegetable “Choice Bars,” but we struggle with the new mandate forcing every child to take a fruit or vegetable at breakfast and every day, even if they don’t want to eat it. This mandate has frustrated students and staff, spoiling what should be a healthy choice that leads to student consumption. Meanwhile, forcing students to take food they don’t eat has increased costs, forcing us to limit the varieties of fruits and vegetables we once served. As a result of rising costs, we have been unable to set aside funds to replace old equipment for the past few years.
Thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), SPPS is now serving all students in some schools for free. CEP helped our district and others regain some of the student customers we lost under the new rules. Unfortunately, too many schools are ineligible for this program.
As SNA President, I am called to serve school nutrition professionals from every background, including those who do not enjoy many of the advantages that helped SPPS get ahead of the curve in meeting new requirements. For SPPS, and for theirs, I will continue to support SNA’s requests for increased funding and flexibility under the new standards.
Jean Ronnei, SNS
SNA President
Chief Operating Officer, Saint Paul Public Schools, MN
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Thank you, Diane, for sharing her comment here as well. I’ve reprinted it https://thelunchtray.com/new-sna-president-responds-business-as-usual/ so more of my readers will see it.