The head of the School Nutrition Association says healthy meals cost money, so the government should pay a higher reimbursement for the work. “For too long, school meal programs have been short-changed,” said Jean Ronnei, president of the group, which represents school food directors.
In a position paper, SNA proposed a 35-cent increase in the federal reimbursement for each breakfast and lunch served through the federal food programs. Some 30 million school children eat hot meals each day through the school lunch program and 11 million eat breakfast.
SNA said USDA also should provide schools with 10 cents worth of food for each breakfast they serve in addition to so-called commodity support for lunches. School lunch is the largest of USDA child nutrition programs costing $22 billion a year. In its position paper, SNA urged Congress to swiftly re-authorize the nutrition programs, including the agreement pending in the Senate on meal standards.