SNA Submits Comments On Proposed School Meal Standards

The morons at the SNA want more money (again) to continue doing the same crappy job that they IMHO have.

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) has submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture in response to the department's proposed rule outlining new nutrition standards for school meals.

The comments, available through this link, express SNA's support for the proposed rule's goals of increasing student consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while reducing the sodium, calories and fat in school meals. Yet, the document raises concerns about schools' ability to meet all the requirements within the proposed rule's tight timetables.

To provide schools adequate time to train staff, secure necessary equipment, change menus, identify new suppliers, and help students adapt to the new meals, SNA advises delaying mandatory implementation of the rule until school year 2013-2014. The Association recommends incentivizing early implementation by providing the additional 6 cent reimbursement to schools that meet the new meal pattern prior to SY 2013-2014.

One major barrier to meeting the new standards is cost: USDA estimates that if the proposed rule is fully implemented, the cost of preparing a school lunch could rise by more than 15 cents while the cost of preparing a school breakfast could rise by more than 51 cents. Yet, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provides only 6 cents more per lunch to help schools meet these new standards and no additional reimbursement to assist with costly improvements to breakfast.

Disband these IMHO malevolent charlatans.