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School Nutrition Professionals to Implore Congress to Protect School Meals

SNA’s Legislative Action Conference, Mar. 9-11

 

Contact: Diane Pratt-Heavner, 703-576-7526, media@schoolnutrition.org

 

ARLINGTON, VA – Next week, 850 school nutrition professionals from across the country will head to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to protect and strengthen school meal programs, threatened by proposed federal spending cuts, while already burdened by high costs. Participants in School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) 53rd annual Legislative Action Conference (LAC) will ask their representatives to increase school meal program funds, protect the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), expand access to healthy school meals and address unpaid school meal debt.

LAC will be held at the JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC. Media wishing to attend must contact Diane Pratt-Heavner at media@schoolnutrition.org in advance to be registered. SNA leaders and school nutrition directors will be available for interviews throughout the conference.

 

Key LAC events include:

SUNDAY, MARCH 9 

  • Education sessions to support attendees working to improve school meal programs (9:45 am – noon)
  • Political analysis from Mara Liasson, National Political Correspondent for National Public Radio (1:30 pm)

MONDAY, MARCH 10

  • “Policy Predictions in a Tumultuous Year” – media panel discussion on food and agriculture policy (8:30 – 10 am) Note: USDA officials invited to present prior to panel; not yet confirmed.
  • “Navigating the Future of CEP” – panel discussion on the impact of proposed cuts to CEP and mandates to require income verification with every free and reduced-price meal application (10:15 am – noon)
  • “Voices of Change: 2025 Economic and Policy Impacts on K-12 Nutrition” – panel discussion with school meal program directors, industry and State agency representatives (2:15 – 3:30 pm)

TUESDAY, MARCH 11

  • Legislator visits

 

SNA’s SY 2024/25 School Nutrition Trends Survey found that high costs continue to rank as school nutrition directors’ top challenge, with just 20.5% citing the current federal reimbursement rate is sufficient to cover the cost of producing a lunch. Programs that must charge for school meals reported additional problems, including students going hungry/choosing not to eat (73.5%) and unpaid school meal charges/debt (96.8%). As school meal programs work to meet new limits on added sugar and sodium and as Congress considers proposals that would drastically increase administrative burdens, staff shortages and procurement issues are cited as challenges by 88.7% and 86.8% of respondents respectively.

LAC participants will discuss these issues with their representatives and share SNA’s 2025 Position Paper.

 

About School Nutrition Association:
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a national, non-profit professional organization representing 50,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Founded in 1946, SNA and its members are dedicated to making healthy school meals and nutrition education available to all students.  For more information on school meals, visit www.SchoolNutrition.org/SchoolMeals.

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