School Nutrition Professionals to Urge Congress to Invest in School Meals

School Nutrition Professionals to Urge Congress to Invest in School Meals
SNA’s Legislative Action Conference, Mar. 8-10 

ARLINGTON, VA – Next week, 850 school nutrition professionals from across the country will head to Washington, D.C. to participate in School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) 54th annual Legislative Action Conference (LAC). As USDA drafts regulations to align school nutrition standards with the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, LAC attendees will urge Congress to increase funding for school meals to cover rising costs and required investments in staffing, training, equipment and infrastructure to expand scratch cooking. 

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 8  

• Education sessions to support attendees working to improve school meal programs (8 am – noon) 

• Political analysis from Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News (1:30 pm) 

MONDAY, MARCH 9 

• USDA Update – Patrick Penn, Deputy Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS), and USDA officials will provide an update on current child nutrition program regulations. (8:30 am) 

• “Ultra-Processed Foods and Implications for School Meals” – panel discussion with representatives from Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, Institute of Food Technologists, International Food Information Council and SNA (10:15 am – noon) 

• “Meeting this Moment” – Brandon Lipps, Former Deputy Under Secretary of FNCS in the first Trump Administration and Co-founder of Caprock Strategies, will provide attendees insight on successful Hill meetings in the current political climate. (2:15 – 3:30 pm) 

TUESDAY, MARCH 10 

• Legislator visits 

The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, emphasize protein, more whole foods and reducing highly processed foods. SNA’s SY 2025-26 School Nutrition Trends Survey found virtually all (99%) responding school meal program directors reported needing more funding, with 79% expressing an “extreme need” for increased funds to further expand scratch cooking and reduce reliance on ultra-processed foods. 

LAC attendees will discuss these issues with their Members of Congress and share SNA’s 2026 Position Paper. The Paper urges Congress to increase school meal funding, protect and expand access to healthy school meals for all students and to ensure updates to school nutrition standards are operationally feasible for schools. 

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.