As the new school year gets underway, the struggle school nutrition programs are facing to secure the necessary food and supplies needed to feed students due to disruptions in the supply chain has made national news. Product shortages, discontinued items, price increases, distributor cancellations, delayed or cancelled deliveries with little to no notice, and staffing shortages are just a few of the challenges schools are facing.
In response to these challenges, SNA has produced a new video available on our YouTube channel to share, which talks about these challenges and what members can do to minimize the disruption to school nutrition programs:
- Communicate often with your vendors and distributors.
- Forecast early and often.
- Maintain flexibility with menu planning.
- Get orders in much earlier than in the past.
- Partner with other schools to maximize deliveries.
- Backstop your supplies with shelf-stable items.
- Speak with state agencies for guidance.
- Take advantage of USDA’s emergency procurement waiver.
Most importantly, stay positive and carry on! As always, school nutrition professionals will get through this together. Go to SNA’s Supply Chain section on the website for more information and tools.
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