School food directors overwhelmingly say they have trouble acquiring nutritious foods and meal supplies due to supply chain disruptions, according to a survey released by the School Nutrition Association (SNA) on Wednesday. The SNA said the results underscored the need for regulatory relief and increased funding from the USDA for the upcoming 2022/23 school year.
Nearly all respondents said their top three challenges were shortages of menu items, insufficient quantities of supplies and foodmakers discontinuing menu items. Almost as many said staff shortages were a challenge.
“Supply chain disruptions are making it infinitely more difficult to plan and serve nutritious meals, critical to health and success,” said SNA president Beth Wallace. “Perpetually difficult conditions have forced many last-minute menu changes and limited the number of choices in school cafeterias.”
The USDA, which spends around $25 billion a year on child nutrition programs such as school lunch, has issued waivers for this school year so food programs are not penalized if they fail to meet nutrition standards, such as serving whole-grain or lower-fat foods. The SNA said the waivers would be extended through the 2022/2023 school year because of consolidation in the school nutrition industry and widespread reports that companies were discontinuing foods aimed at the school cafeteria.
USDA waivers also allow schools to serve meals for free to all students with federal reimbursement per meal at a higher than usual rate. Even so, only half of school food directors say the reimbursements covers the cost of meals.
Before the pandemic, about 30 million students ate hot meals daily through the school lunch program. Participation dropped to 6 million in the first month of the pandemic. It improved when schools began to re-open in fall 2020 but never exceeded 10 million a day during the 2020/21 school year.
The SNA report is available here.