WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Congressional briefings on Tuesday, March 31, the non-profit School Nutrition Association (SNA) called for increased investments to help school meal programs meet goals of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). School nutrition professionals discussed financial and operational realities for programs working to expand scratch meal preparation and serve more fresh, whole foods to align with impending school meal standards revisions, to be released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this spring.
Current federal nutrition standards require schools to offer fruits, vegetables, milk, whole grains and lean protein. Today’s school meals must also meet limits on calories, saturated fat, sodium and added sugar. Facing increased costs while working with tight budgets, many schools will struggle to build on this success.
The federal reimbursement for a free school lunch is approximately $4.70, but as Stephanie Dillard, MS, SNS, SNA President and Child Nutrition Director for Enterprise City Schools in Alabama, explained, “$4.70 must cover the food and the supplies, our labor and our equipment, deliveries and utilities, and the list goes on.”
Schools wanting to increase local purchases or source higher quality ingredients are often limited by cost. Dillard shared, “Our St. Patrick’s Day menu featured a scratch prepared Shepherd’s Pie using fresh, locally sourced beef. I wish we could offer this option regularly, but local beef is priced about $3 more per pound.”
Ryan Mikolaycik, Executive Director of Food Services and Warehouse Operations for Austin Independent School District echoed these concerns. Last month, his nutrition team welcomed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for a tour. “When I spoke to Secretary Kennedy I asked for investments. School meals are already the healthiest meals American children eat, thanks to current federal nutrition standards. But Secretary Kennedy’s new dietary guidelines have loftier goals. I support those goals and many schools like ours have been working toward these principles for years. But when 79% of school nutrition directors report an ‘extreme need’ for increased funding already – it’s impossible to ask us to do more with less.”
Liz Campbell, MA, RDN, SNA VP of Government Affairs, shared additional stories from school meal programs challenged by high costs and staffing or equipment limitations. “The director in Meriden (Connecticut) hired a chef specifically to develop scratch recipes and build staff skills. But too often he spends his time filling in on the line serving kids because of staff shortages.”
In SNA’s SY 2025-26 School Nutrition Trends Survey school meal program directors reported widespread needs for increased funds, staffing, culinary training, equipment and infrastructure to further expand scratch cooking and reduce reliance on ultra-processed foods. In the 2026 Position Paper, SNA 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.
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