School FSDs may have to be patient about school-meal rule changes

School foodservice directors looking for changes in National School Lunch Program rules may have to wait for months now that Congress’ deadline for reauthorizing the program has come and gone, according to observers inside the Beltway.

Sen. Debby Stabenow of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, told reporters Wednesday that she hopes a reauthorization bill will be completed by years end.

The sentiment is echoed by Cathy Schuchart, vice president of government affairs and media relations for the School Nutrition Association.

“At some point, the committees are going to have to determine how to move forward with [child nutrition],” she said.

In the meantime, Schuchart added, “it’s status quo.” The continuing resolution passed by Congress just before midnight, when the government would have been forced otherwise to shut down, included funding for the school lunch program until Dec. 11.  FSDs won’t lose reimbursements for meals provided under the program.

But neither will they be able to escape provisions that the SNA had hoped to change. For instance, FSDs complain that costly fruits often end up in garbage cans because students don’t like items like kiwis, one of the limited options available during some times of the year.  Yet FSDs have to require that students take a piece of fruit or vegetable because that’s what the rules specify.

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The SNA had also asked the Senate Agriculture Committee to consider such adjustments as permitting 50 percent whole-grain-rich products and easing the mandates for reduced sodium.